I'm back..... About This Page:

[gymnuts]

Hello. Well I'm back from a week at the Wilderness Lodge. I have to say it was an "okay" trip. Had some not too great experiences. Crowds were heavy at MK two days that we were there. I'll fill you all in on my experiences in a day or two. Gotta gather my thoughts.gymnuts

[lynch610]

Sorry to hear it wasn't Fantastic. Waiting to hear your report.
WELCOME BACK!!!

------------------
Connie


[This message has been edited by lynch610 (edited 10-30-2000).]

[HiddenMickey]

Welcome Back gymnuts! Sorry to hear the trip was not all that Magical for you. Please put a trip report together so we can hear all about the good and the not so good. Hope you have some good memories to hold dear though. -HiddenMickey

[gymnuts]

Okay, so lets get started. We drove from New York and we actually made good time.(Kids co-operated.)And we arrived a day early. So we stayed at a AAA recomended hotel. It was called The Wynfield Inn. Now remember this because you don't ever want to stay there. The lobby is nice, but the rest of the place is a mess!!! Very run down, thank god I always carry a can of Lysol when I travel. The only reason I didn't leave and go somewhere else was because we had been on the road for 10 hrs. And everyone was exhausted. They advertised blow dryer's and ironing boards in every room. Well the only way you could get either was from the front desk, and you could only have it for 1hour and 30 minutes!(LOL) We did get to go to Sea World. It was very enjoyable. We got soaked at the Shamu show. The weather was perfect. 85 degrees and no humidity!

Friday, October 20th:
Check in day at Wilderness Lodge. Okay so we arrived a bit early, 10:30 a.m. Our junior suite wasn't ready. The people had checked out, but it hadn't been cleaned yet. The CM said it should be ready by one. So I went ahead and purchased my E-ride tickets for that evening. And took care of a couple of other things. Then we went to explore the lodge. I loved their gift shop. I bought sooo many things there. The pool was beautiful. Then we headed for Roaring Forks, their version of a food court. I was not pleased with that place at all. It was very small with limited menu choices and limited seating. We purchased our mugs, and then I headed to see if our room was ready, since it was after one. I checked with another CM at the counter. It still wasn't ready. And then she said "Well check in is actually after 3:00. Which I know, so okay we decide to sit and relax in the lobby. Well I'm watching people check in and every person that went up to the counter received their little green map to tell them where their room was. So I'm thinking, okay it's probably taking longer because it's a suite and I had requested the MK side. Well 3:15 arives and guess what it still isn't ready! Finally I spot the orginal CM at the counter, the one that had said 1:00.(It was now 3:30.)He said he didn't know what was going on but that he would call upstairs and then come tell us, what he found out. Now it's 4:00, he still hasn't come to tell us what's going on. So again I stand on line and when I get to the counter he says" Oh your room is ready." I personally think it was ready alot earlier, because during our stay housekeeping was at our door every day by 11:30. We also did not get a suite on the MK side of the lodge, but we did end up on the fifth floor overlooking the beach and Bay Lake, so that was okay. I'll continue later .........

[Brant]

Well, I don't know what to say It seems that other than the check-in, which I hope I can speak for a lot of people when I say it's not uncommon to wait past 4. I would have tried to find the good in a bad situation. I personally, would have loved to relax in the WL lobby and people watched for a few hours. I am enjoying your report so far though, and hope to hear more soon!

------------------

[gymnuts]

So we get settled, and we are off to MK. We arrive, enter and see nothing but a sea of people. It was sooo crowded. It reminded me of the summer time. We had ps seating at Liberty Tree Tavern for 5:20 so that's where we headed. We had been there before and it was very enjoyable. The characters spent lots of time at the table, and the sit down buffet of ham, flank steak, turkey , veggies and bread with honey and apple butter was great. We finished at about 6:15, and people were starting to pick their spots for the electrical parade so we secured a spot right outside the Liberty Tree Tavern. The parade was really great. The kids sat there in amazement. After the parade as everyone started running towards the castle for the fireworks since we had E-tickets we decided to hang back and catch the Country Bear Jamboree since this was one of the E-ticket attractions. Before it started we had a perfect view of the fireworks. E-ticket night was good, no lines but I saw alot of people getting on rides after the park was closed without bands on! In fact my husband broughtit to my attention. We left at about 11:00 and headed back to our hotel.

Saturday, Oct. 21st:
This was our day of rest at the hotel. We went to the pool. Very nice day. The Trout Pass Pool Bar had snacks and the drinks were delicious! At this time I was also attempting to do some of my laundry at their laundry facilities. Attempting is the key word. They have only 5 washers for everyone staying there!! I was only able to get one load done. I tried the next couple of days going at 6:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m, 3:00 p.m. they were always being used. I ended up not getting anymore done while we were there. So I'm still up to my ears in dirty clothes. I think they need a couple more washers. Well after we finished at the pool we headed for Fort Wilderness we had tickets for the Hoop-de-doo Review dinner show. I had heard great things about this show. It was alright, not worth 43.00 a person. The show itself dragged a little bit till the middle and the food was not that great. The stawberry shortcake tasted more like a jelly roll. Would I go again? That's a big Hoop-de doo no! After that we headed back to our hotel and watched the Eletrical Water Pagent from our balcony, very cute . Kids loved it. I'll continue soon!

[minemoz1]

Sorry to hear about your check-in. We had that happen to us also. I'm glad you enjoyed e-night. Hope to hear more from you soon.

------------------
Take a frown, turn upside down, and you'll find yours I know!


CRB 1/93, DxL 2/94, DxL 4/96, DxL 9/97, ASSports 8/00

[Cinderbrella]

Sorry you had such a rough check-in, gymnuts. The parade sounds wonderful; glad the kids enjoyed it. You're laundry tale reminds me of my college days in the dormitory!! Yikes- I'm envisioning mountains and mountains of laundry!

[gymnuts]

Well I just wanted to wrap up my trip report. I'll keep it brief with just an over view of the rest of my 7 day stay:

Dinning Experiences:
Chef Mickey's for dinner. It was okay, but it was way too crowded. Kids didn't get to meet too many characters. Felt sorta like cattle rushed in, herded out. Celebrated my four year old's birthday. They messed up the cake. Was suppose to have characters on it. It had flowers instead. It was delicious though.
Sci-fi diner:
For lunch. Loved this place!!! The atmosphere was alot of fun. My three kids loved it. The food was great!
Cinderella's Castle:
For breakfast. No wonder this is so hard to get. Never mind the princesses, the breakfast is delicious!!The best we had while we were there.
Whispering Canyon Cafe:
For dinner. It was okay. Very limited menu.
Cape May Cafe (clambake):
Seafood lovers don't miss this dinner!! It was the best dinner we had. Even though it's not a character dinner my kids liked it alot. They had their own buffet, and they were encourged to draw on the paper table cloth.
Parks:
Magic Kingdom: Still my favorite. Spent three days there. Love the christmas shop in Liberty Square. Another favorite Mickey's Star Traders. Kids loved the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Went on it 6 times!!!
Animal Kingdom: My second favorite park. We went on the rapids ride and believe it or not we avoided getting soaking wet!!! Camp Minnie Mickey is the best place for character meetings!!!
Epcot: My teen age son enjoys this park. I think it's okay. My husband wanted to go on Test Track, but the wait was 1hr 30 min. So he skipped it. Spaceship earth looked really nice, and we did the Leave A Legacy Tiles.
MGM: Bear's Big Blue House was really cute!! I don't really enjoy this park too much. I guess if your really into movies and things this is the place for you. It can be a little boring for very young kids.
Continue later....

[gymnuts]

Okay so let me finish this so it's done. Overall I'd say the trip was alot of fun. The Wilderness Lodge was beautiful. The Housekeeping dept. was wonderful. Most of the CM's were very nice throughout the property. I guess I'm a little dissapointed that the trip wasn't perfect. I guess I always think everthing Disney is perfect, or should be. I now know it can't be. That's okay. I'll be alot wiser for my next trip to the "WORLD"! Just a little note. I think the next book someone writes about Disney World should be on how to conduct yourself while visiting the "World"! I know it's very exciting to be there, but others are just as excited to be there as you. I observed some pretty rude behavior from my "fellow" vacationers. I couldn't believe some of what I saw. I won't go into details, just remember to always be considerate of other people visitng the "World" even if they are not. Maybe it will catch on and then we will all enjoy our stay a little more!!!!!


[This message has been edited by gymnuts (edited 11-06-2000).]

[Brant]

I hopw I'm not bringing up bad memories, but I'm interested in hearing any of the rude guest experiences. I think you're right about letting the excitement getting the best of people, but if thos eproblems were bothering you, if you make them known, we as "protectors" of the Disney World spirit, may be able to prevent it from happening again

------------------

[Aimee W]

I loved hearing everything about your report...I don't know if you remember me or not but we have e-mailed before. I asked you a ton of questons about the jr. suite. How was it?? Was it worth the money?? Talk to you soon..

------------------
82 Disney Inn
84 Poly
86 off-site
89 Hilton
93 Poly
97 Port Orleans
Nov 01 Can't decide yet!

[Cinderbrella]

Enjoyed reading your report wrap-up! Thanks for the tips on behavior; it's so important to remember to be considerate. We're eating at Sci-Fi for lunch and I'm looking forward to it.