A December TR - Mostly Live, Mostly Pics, A Dog, ADRS, and More ... About This Page:

[shazza]

I just finished Part 1 of my Winter Trifecta of Trips to The World last week(See Sig Links for that TR and the Trifecta PTR). And, it's already time to do Part 2 - the December Trip.

I thought I'd try to do it "Mostly Live" - meaning the updates will be within a day or so of occurring. As usual, this report will be photo heavy.

The backstory for the trip is explained in detail in the Trifecta PTR, but the short version is:

1) Rented points for a 2 night stay at a VWL 1 Bedroom to check out Christmas Decorations
2) Added 2 nights at BCV to check it out as a potential future DVC acquisition
3) ADRs for all 4 nights, so there will be food pics
4) Planned events include the Candlelight Processional, and attempts to photograph Wishes and Illuminations


This trip came together perfectly in the planning stages. Then it almost didn't happen (and, I'm still not sure we'll make all 4 nights as planned). After my November Solo Trip, I came down with the dreaded cold and cough. Felt really lousy for 3 days, and the cough and fatigue have been lingering. Then Lou (DH) woke up with the start of a cold on the day before the trip. I offered to cancel, but he's a trooper and said let's give it a shot.


The Dog

A big unknown for this trip is how our dog (Natasha) will handle boarding for the first time. She is booked into her very own Villa at Best Friend's Pet Care here in WDW. Her nickname is "velcro dog," and she insists on knowing where we are 24/7. We started out yesterday morning with Natasha jumping into the car - she sees a suitcase, she goes to the car. After a 2.5 hour drive to Orlando, we pulled into Best Friends:

Natasha looking pensively all around as I get her "stuff" out. This is a big place and we can hear lots of barking dogs. We enter the facility (I'll get some more pics later, when we go visit). After a lengthy check-in process with a rather grim gal, Natasha happily prances off with a couple of younger gals who were giving her lots of attention. It's been over 14 hours and there have been no SOS calls from the Boarding Facility, so perhaps she hasn't wreaked havoc yet.

After that ordeal was over, we continued on to the Wilderness Lodge - not all that far from Best Friends. We had encountered some rain on our drive North, but it was just cloudy when we checked in. I had done online check-in, and everything went smoothly.

We had a 1 bedroom Villa on the second floor - about 2/3 of the way down the lengthy hallway. We were also given Buttons to celebrate our 35th Anniversary

I'm going to go ahead and post quite a few pics of the Villa here. I usually always forget to take pics of the room, but since we just hung out for a couple of hours, I remembered to take the pics before we made a mess.

Looking back at the Entry Way - lots of room here, as well as some storage






The Living Room - decent sized with comfortable seating. I would normally not let Lou out of the house with those weird socks and shorts, but I cut him some slack since he didn't feel well:






The Kitchen Area (Note - that counter is not blue, must be the way the light shines - it's green)






A Closer Look at the Kitchen (Is it just the Studios that use paper plates instead of real?)






A door with cute woodsy cutouts - behind which lies the stacked washer and dryer






A view of the "right" side of the bathroom - sink, shower, toilet. Lots of room






A view into the "left" side of the bathroom (adjoining rooms - kind of weird, but lots of space). The door at the back opens to a large closet/utility space. Easily big enough to store a couple of screaming kids.






The Master Bedroom:






View from the Living Room Balcony - Trees. I believe we are facing away from the pool area. It doesn't really matter with most of these rooms, since all you see are trees anyway. We knew that when we picked VWL as our Home Resort, and no regrets so far.

Coming Up Next: Did we Make it to our ADR at California Grill?

[Thomhazel]

Oooh lovely pictures. We have four nights in august that we want to be close to the monorail. i was going to try for BLT but you are making me think.

Your dog is soo cute

[dutchdisneyfamily]

Beautiful room!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start! The villa is beautiful!

[lauriep]

Such a nice room! It's always wonderful to have all the storage-- you never know when you might have an extra screaming kid to put away. I'm sorry you, and now Lou, got that horrid cold. I hope Lou makes it all the way through the 4 days. I know I didn't get my taste buds or appetite back until a couple of days ago so I hope you're both able to enjoy all those ressies. They're probably giving Natasha lots of attention at Best Friends. Who could resist that face?

[chezp]

What a great room!

[shazza]

Originally Posted by Thomhazel

Oooh lovely pictures. We have four nights in august that we want to be close to the monorail. i was going to try for BLT but you are making me think.

Your dog is soo cute

Thanks. We like the Wilderness Lodge - it's easy access to the Magic Kingdom by boat, and the Contemporary by boat as well to catch the Monorail (if it's running!).

Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily

Beautiful room!

Thank you - I know some people don't care for the Wilderness Lodge styling - especially at the Villas, but we like the cabin/old-timey feel.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great start! The villa is beautiful!

Thanks, Marnie.

Originally Posted by lauriep

Such a nice room! It's always wonderful to have all the storage-- you never know when you might have an extra screaming kid to put away. I'm sorry you, and now Lou, got that horrid cold. I hope Lou makes it all the way through the 4 days. I know I didn't get my taste buds or appetite back until a couple of days ago so I hope you're both able to enjoy all those ressies. They're probably giving Natasha lots of attention at Best Friends. Who could resist that face?

LOL - those darned screaming kids You did really well recovering from the cold, thank goodness. We'll give it our best try as we force ourselves to eat nice meals.

Still waiting for a callback from Best Friends to see how Natasha did overnight

Originally Posted by chezp

What a great room!

Thanks, Cheryl. As you and Mark have probably found out - the one bedrooms are a nice luxury when it's just two people.

[buzzspal2]

The Wilderness lodge is my favorite. What happens next?

[shazza]

Day 1 - The Rest of the Story ...


Zipping right along here, so I can try to stay current. We left off with the question, "Did we make our ADR at California Grill?" And, the answer is Yes! Even though Lou was not at his best, we took the boat from the Wilderness Lodge dock over to the Contemporary. We got there about 7pm, with the intent to have a drink before our 7:30 reservation. I left 2 hours before the 9:30pm fireworks, because I heard they often run late.

We went up to the bar, and each ordered a glass of wine. The bartenders were very nice and kept wanting us to taste different wines. Our buzzer went off after about 15 minutes, and we were escorted to a wonderful window table, with a great view of the Castle.






First came the bread ... a delicious sourdough with salted butter.





I started with the California Roll - it was good and the Wasabi was a perfect accompaniment to my stuffy nose.






Lou chose the Lamb Gyro Flatbread to start, and he also had the squash soup, but I didn't get a photo of the soup:






I had the Sundried Tomato / Goat Cheese Ravioli for my main course - I just had the appetizer portion, although they will fix it with two ravioli if you're really hungry. This was outstanding. Loved it.






Lou went with the pork tenderloin and polenta. He really liked the polenta, and said the pork was "OK." I don't think he could taste much.






We skipped dessert, but our waitress was not happy with that decision. She insisted we try the chocolate cake, and was kind enough to box it up for us to take back to the room.





Lou was totally zonked by now - it was only 8:45pm, but I knew there was no way he would stay for the fireworks. He suggested I stay, and he would head back to the room. Even though he felt poorly, he was definitely a good sport about it all.






Some kitchen action, taken as we exited the restaurant:






I was the only one out on the observation deck until just before 9:30pm. This gave me time to get setup and take some practice shots. I knew the fireworks would be much different from here, but wasn't sure how far they would reach.

1st, a sneak peek of the Water Pageant in the far distance:





The Magic Kingdom before the start of Holiday Wishes:






And - Holiday Wishes from the California Grill Observation deck. I was happy with several of the shots. It's always hard to get the exposure right - long enough to show the fireworks bursts, but not too long to blow everything out.






























I was so glad it didn't rain. I knew Laurie, Cheryl, and other Pass Porters were attending the party and I was glad they weren't getting wet. I will say the humidity was in the 98+% range - about as close to raining as it gets in Florida without actually dripping. It was hot and sticky, but not terribly uncomfortable.



I caught the boat back to the Wilderness Lodge. I did take a few pics while walking back to the cabin.

This one of the falls in front of the Lodge - I've no idea why the sky is so golden - that's real life, not photoshop:






A shot of the Hidden Springs, DVC Pool. There were still folks swimming in the main pool, but not this one (it was about 10:15pm):






And, one last shot - the Tree in the Common Area at the DVC Villas. You will be seeing more Christmas Decorations as the report continues

Coming Up: Did we make Rope Drop on Day 2 (Wednesday)? & How many rides did we do?

[Colexis Mom]

Great dinner at CG! Love the pics of MK and the WL!

[Principessa_di_Fata]

Wow, extraordinary photos! You may have mentioned this in a PTR / TR but what kind of camera is that? I really love your photos! Great work! Can't wait to read / see more!

[Trinitys Nina]

Great pics of MK and the fireworks! Hope ya'lls colds don't hold you back much!

[chezp]

How cool to see last night's fireworks from your perspective! Part of me says you can appreciate them better from where you were, especially when they released the ones all around the Magic Kingdom.

[shazza]

Originally Posted by buzzspal2

The Wilderness lodge is my favorite. What happens next?

OOps - I think I was posting my update when you posted your question - answers coming up. Thanks for joining in.

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great dinner at CG! Love the pics of MK and the WL!

Thanks! We did enjoy dinner.

Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata

Wow, extraordinary photos! You may have mentioned this in a PTR / TR but what kind of camera is that? I really love your photos! Great work! Can't wait to read / see more!

Thank you very much. I'm using a Canon DSLR - the 5D Mark III, with a few different lens combinations.

Originally Posted by Trinitys Nina

Great pics of MK and the fireworks! Hope ya'lls colds don't hold you back much!

Thanks - the colds aren't fun, but we're doing okay.

Originally Posted by chezp

How cool to see last night's fireworks from your perspective! Part of me says you can appreciate them better from where you were, especially when they released the ones all around the Magic Kingdom.

I don't think it is a better perspective - just different. Glad I saw them at the MK previously. It does let you see just how spread out the area is where they actually shoot the fireworks.

[shazza]

Day 2 - Part 1 (Wednesday, Dec 12th)


Rope Drop? Rides? ..................................... Nah, we don't need no stinkin' rides

I was up early, and out the door before 6am. My plan was to get some early morning photos, and a cup of coffee. We never intended to go to a park today. I easily could have skipped over to the MK, but I had just spent lots of time there two weeks ago.

It wasn't raining, but again was very humid - almost 80 degrees at 6am!






In awe of the Lobby at the Lodge - took a quick shot of the tree, I plan to spend some time in the Lobby either tonight or early tomorrow AM with a wide angle lens.






Some random shots around the lobby. Fortunately, there were very few people around, just a couple of bears:





















I then went outside (after procuring the wonderful Nescafe Coffee at Roaring Springs), and took some more photos of Silver Springs Falls. Remember the golden sky last night? Well, this morning it was a beautiful blue. This is the Blue Hour effect, which occurs before Sunrise and after Sunset - much more pronounced in the camera than in your eyes.
















The ducks were enjoying the pool:






Not much happening on the beach in the early morning:






Went back to the room, worked on photos, read some - Lou slept in until about 11am, since he had slept fitfully during the night. We headed to Whispering Canyon for Lunch - it was good, and we managed to avoid most of the hi-jinks:

Iced Tea - old fashioned and good






I went with the Tuna Melt on sourdough - it was very tasty. The cheese was melted, but they didn't overheat the tuna.






Lou picked the bacon & egg burger - covers breakfast as well as lunch:






No dessert for us today. We did see some not-so-happy-grownups get stuck with the catsup bottles - the kids who had to bring them enjoyed the frivolity:






A walk back to the Villas, and a stroll through the Train Room:






All we did this afternoon was ................................ take naps! It was good. It's just after 7pm now, and we are preparing to head over to the Territory Lounge and Artist Point for dinner.

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