She Dodged a Hurricane, Skipped School, and Adopted a Porg, a September 2019 TR at Copper Creek Villas at WL (Completed 12/18)

GrandCalifornian

Can't Wait To Go Back
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
We just got home from another amazing 10 day trip to Disney World, and that means it is time to start another Trip Report! Just as we have with our prior reports, I will share my thoughts in Blue and Melissa will chime in in Orange.

This trip was another one for the record books. I really love watching the kids enjoy these vacations at each stage and it's magical at every age. We packed a ton of fun into our trip and we can't wait to share it!

For anyone who might be just joining in for the first time, let's start with introductions, I'm Paul, a not quite yet 40 year old Dad, Engineer, Car Guy, and lover of all things Wilderness Lodge.


My favorite park is Epcot, my favorite ride is Test Track, my favorite Disney Movie is Cars, and my favorite Disney character is Tow Mater.

I'm Melissa my family owns an Elevator company, it has it's ups and downs.


I love Epcot although Magic Kingdom is starting to grow on me. I'm loving all of the new Live action remakes of the Disney Classics, my favorite so far is Beauty and the Beast.

Allison is 9 (about to turn 10 this week) and has been to Disney World 7 times.


Her favorites are Eeyore and Belle, and she enjoys cute snuggly park souveniers.


She is a great big sister and all over good kid. We pulled her out of school for the week and she did great getting her homework done before she went back this week.

Marshall is 3 and lives it up well.


He's super outgoing and really enjoyed the trip this year. He's a daredevil and enjoyed rides that his sister wouldn't get on until this year.


He also loves anything that goes and can be fixed, including cars and trains. He makes a habit out of making friends with anyone who will chat with him, particularly college age girls...

Our friends Jon and Brandy once again joined us on this trip. They are as Disney obssessed as we are, and bought into DVC to share in the craziness with us on our trips.


We stayed in a two bedroom villa at Copper Creek at Wilderness Lodge.



We absolutely love the Lodge and it's our home away from home. This room type is perfect for our party of six and gives us a great amount of space and amenities.


We fell in love with the Copper Creek dedicated 2 bedroom when we did a split stay with a cabin last year, and we really enjoyed getting to stay in the same room for the whole trip this time. For our group it is perfect, with a seperate bedrrrom for each family and a common living room in the middle.

Our trip was September 5-14, 2019. This is the fourth time we have been to Disney World this same week, and we really enjoy it. The crowds tend to be very low, and that was even more true this year since we closely followed Hurricane Dorian.

Weather this year was interesting, normally on our September trips we have rain in the afternoons but this year we didn't get rain until the day we left which made for a really hot and humid trip. This changed up our style slightly with more trips back to the resort to cool off. Despite the heat we still had a fantastic time


So, now that we've covered the basics, let's get on with our trip...
 
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Our first day started with the alarm going off at 2:30. We had been awake off and on, excitedly checking the clock to make sure that we didn't oversleep. We actually had gotten to bed early the night before, since we had all of our packing wrapped up early.

Packing this year went so smoothly I think we're finally getting the hang of what we need to bring and what we can leave at home.

Practice really does make perfect. We even got everything into one checked bag, which meant more money for other fun things on the trip.

We got up and ready quickly, and it was weird not having the dogs at home since Melissa had dropped them off at the Vet the day before. This would be the first trip where we didn't have someone staying at the house with them.

It was more relaxing not having to leave the house spotless though.

At 3:20 AM we carried Marshall out to the truck while still sleeping as Jon and Brandy arrived. We loaded our bags in the back of the Yukon and left our house at 3:29.

Our drive into LA was pretty uneventful and we made great time that early in the morning.


It is one of those traffic things where we could have left an hour later and gotten to the airport two hours later, so it was nicer to just be ahead of the morning traffic rush.
We parked at 4:30 in a great spot right up front, and headed off to check our bags.


Security went pretty easy and we made it to the terminal fairly early. There were a couple food option and we settled on breakfast burritos from one place and then I got some Munchkins and an Iced Coffee from Dunkin Donuts.

I thought the breakfast burritos sounded good, but it wound up costing $55 for three burritos and two Diet Cokes.


They were good, but no where near that good. That's ok, it made the Disney food seem economical.
We had over an hour to sit in the terminal before they started boarding our plane, but it was nice and relaxing to be early.


Marshall got to run off some steam and get some wiggles out in the terminal before the long flight.


At 7:25 they started boarding our flight and we got on before long. The plane was an almost new Airbus A321 Neo, the second newest in American's fleet. We pushed back from the gate on time, buit had to sit on the taxiway for about 40 minutes while they resolved a routing conflict.


Luckily we had great inflight entertainment with movies and shows we could stream for free.

I did find it interesting that on the new planes they set up the in flight entertainment for people to use their own devices, rather than having a screen in each seat.


The flight overall was easy and the kids are great at flying now.

I sat between the kids and Melissa sat with Jon and Brandy, so we had a whole row to ourselves.
Marshall stayed awake almost the entire way, falling asleep only about 20 minutes before we landed in Orlando. In Orlando the airport was quite busy, and the tram was full.

We had great luck with our Magical Express bus, there was one right there waiting for us and Wilderness Lodge was the first stop!


It was incredible, we got off the plane at 4:45 and the MDE bus left at 5:06 with WL as the first stop. It was still daylight as we passed under the WDW sign.


We walked in to the lobby at WL at 5:39, under an hour after we got off the plane. I don't think we can ever beat that.


We did get a bit of a surprise when we walked into the lobby, as they were refinishing the wood floor in the center of it so it was all fenced off.


Fortunately it was a quick process and was back to normal within a couple of days, and the floor looked like new.


It was really neat to see how beautiful the floors are under the weathered finish and furniture, they really are a work of art.

I had checked for our room number while we were on the bus, and I found that it was 5113, the exact location that we were hoping for. It was the closest dedicated two bedroom to the lobby with an inner courtyard view.

It was a perfect room and the view was fantastic.


It happened to be a mirror of the layout we had last time, so our room was on the left instead of the right, but we got used to it quickly. Since we were on the 5th floor, we had open balconies thac connected between all three portions of the room.


Since we were so early, we decided to have dinner at MK. We left the room about 6PM, and hopped on a boat for MK. With Marshall still asleep in the stroller, we were fortunate enough to get a big boat so we could roll him right on. We didn't remember to bring his Magic band though, which I remembered as we left the dock.




So once we got to MK we got to visit Guest Services which it turns out we had to do anyway to activate our Annual Passes.


It made the trip official, what is a WDW trip without a visit to Guest Services. It worked out great though, since we got our passes all activated and we bought Tables in Wonderland for Brandy since we will have plenty of opportunity to use it this trip and in February.
Once we got in the park we went straight for Casey's Corner, which had some new items that we wanted to try.


I left Paul to order food while I secured a table inside in the AC for all of us.


I decided to try the loaded mini corn dogs, and they were really good. You could taste the Jalapenos, but they weren't too hot.

I got a mac and cheese hot dog and I'm putting mac and cheese on all my hot dogs from now on. It was soo good.


Brandy got the upgraded larger hot dog, and I can see why it was worth the $2 more. We all enjoyed our meal, and it was nice to be able to enjoy it inside.

After dinner we headed out into the park. We had made some fastpasses for our first night just in case and we were excited to use them.



We were able to shop on Main street for a bit, then did Pirates, 7 Dwarves Mine train, and Haunted Mansion.





Marshall loved riding all of the rides this year and it was neat to be able to ride so many together. Haunted Mansion freaked him out a little though and he didnt want to ride that one again on the trip.


He really did like 7DMT though, and asked to repeat that one. We decided to head out before fireworks, and walked right on a boat at 8:45.


We stopped at Roaring Fork for dessert and our mugs on the way back up to the room.



I was able to get a Halloween mug, which would look neat with my Green lid that I brought from home. They also had Mickey and Pixar mugs to choose from. We got a magic cookie bar, and Jon got an apple spice cupcake that nobody really liked, but Marshall was happy to finish for him.


I got a Mickey mug with a black lid and handle, Marsh got a Mickey mug with a red lid and handle, and Allie got a Halloween mug and used an orange lid we had brought from home.

Then we went up to the room and enjoyed hanging out a bit before going to bed at 11.


When I pulled out one of the carryons to start unpacking there was a little tree frog sitting on it. It jumped onto the bed, then across the bed then under it.
Jon and Marshall came to the rescue though and Marsh crawled under the bed and caught the frog.


I was impressed, he actually kept the little frog cupped in his hands long enough to get him outside to the balcony. We've seen the frogs outside before, but it was the first time we've had one inside, and Marshall loved it.

After his long nap it was a little hard to get Marshall to sleep, and he insisted on being in our bed, but eventually he went to sleep.
 


Your photos have always been great, but your new camera seems to have taken them even to a new level of professionalism!

Did you get another magic band for Marshall at guest relations, or was he able to just use the card version of the annual pass for that evening?

I'll be staying at a Copper Creek villa studio later in October, and looking forward to previewing the experience through your report, even though my room will be way smaller than what you guys had. I've stayed at WL a few times in standard rooms, but this will be my first stay at CCV. Actually your previous trip report is part of what inspired me to rent points for CCV in the first place.
 


Following along!
Thanks! You're first, and we're glad you're here!
Welcome! We hope you enjoy it.
Here! So excited. Ya'll are some of my favorite trip reporters.
Aww, thank you! That's very nice to hear. We love sharing the fun.
Your photos have always been great, but your new camera seems to have taken them even to a new level of professionalism!
Aww, thank you. It does a nice job, and because we wanted to play with it I wound up taking a lot more pictures, so we have more to choose some good ones from...
Did you get another magic band for Marshall at guest relations, or was he able to just use the card version of the annual pass for that evening?
We just got his AP card, as I've edited this since Melissa pointed out that the temporary card we got was for Allie later in the trip. It worked to get him in the park and for his fastpasses, so we were good.
I'll be staying at a Copper Creek villa studio later in October, and looking forward to previewing the experience through your report, even though my room will be way smaller than what you guys had. I've stayed at WL a few times in standard rooms, but this will be my first stay at CCV. Actually your previous trip report is part of what inspired me to rent points for CCV in the first place.
That's neat. As you know, we absolutely love WL, and any Copper Creek room will be great. If you have a studio with a tub booked you have a good chance of being on the first floor, but that's fine. If you request a higher floor you might get an alternate studio with a great view. There are also lots of great studio rooms with walk in showers throughout the resort. We just seem to love and enjoy it more every trip. We have lots of pictures to share to help get you excited.
When are your Feb 2020 dates?
We'll be back home at Copper Creek February 6-15 for another 9 night, 10 day trip. We can't wait!
 
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I love the picture of you driving the boat. It looks like you are enjoying the ride. It also looks like you are somewhere else besides WDW. ;)

Allison is 9 (about to turn 10 this week) and has been to Disney World 7 times.
Allison must know her way around the place pretty well now. Does she also get excited to show Marshall around?
He's super outgoing and really enjoyed the trip this year. He's a daredevil and enjoyed rides that his sister wouldn't get on until this year.
,,,,
He also loves anything that goes and can be fixed, including cars and trains. He makes a habit out of making friends with anyone who will chat with him, particularly college age girls...
It sounds like he wasn't as shy as he was when we met him last year. :)
Weather this year was interesting, normally on our September trips we have rain in the afternoons but this year we didn't get rain until the day we left which made for a really hot and humid trip. This changed up our style slightly with more trips back to the resort to cool off. Despite the heat we still had a fantastic time
We didn't have very much rain on our trip, either. The nice thing was that we never got kicked out of the pool. :)
It was incredible, we got off the plane at 4:45 and the MDE bus left at 5:06 with WL as the first stop. It was still daylight as we passed under the WDW sign.
We walked in to the lobby at WL at 5:39, under an hour after we got off the plane. I don't think we can ever beat that.
That really is quick. You must have been able to get off the plane fast, too.
Is this the first time you arrived at the WL in the daylght?
I had checked for our room number while we were on the bus, and I found that it was 5113, the exact location that we were hoping for. It was the closest dedicated two bedroom to the lobby with an inner courtyard view.

It was a perfect room and the view was fantastic.
I could tell from your pictures that you had a great location. Our daughter had room 3113 when they stayed at the WL and it was really convenient to the lobby.
Since we were on the 5th floor, we had open balconies that connected between all three portions of the room.
I love your huge balcony. And the view is great, too. There aren't any trees blocking it, either,
I was impressed, he actually kept the little frog cupped in his hands long enough to get him outside to the balcony. We've seen the frogs outside before, but it was the first time we've had one inside, and Marshall loved it.
That is a cute story. :
 
I love the picture of you driving the boat. It looks like you are enjoying the ride. It also looks like you are somewhere else besides WDW. ;)
I knew I wanted that to be my intro picture this year. It definitely was my happy place.

Allison must know her way around the place pretty well now. Does she also get excited to show Marshall around?
It sounds like he wasn't as shy as he was when we met him last year. :)
She does know a lot about what is where and enjoyed telling Marshall all about the different parks and Disney Springs.
He is shy for less and less time now, and often introduced himself (and us) to strangers.

We didn't have very much rain on our trip, either. The nice thing was that we never got kicked out of the pool. :)
It was one of our drier trips, but we still wound up being kicked out of the pool. That was later on in the trip though.
That really is quick. You must have been able to get off the plane fast, too.
Is this the first time you arrived at the WL in the daylght?
It was our earliest arrival. We have landed as early before, but spent way more tine on MDE and still arrived about sunset.

I could tell from your pictures that you had a great location. Our daughter had room 3113 when they stayed at the WL and it was really convenient to the lobby.
I love your huge balcony. And the view is great, too. There aren't any trees blocking it, either,
It was the exact location we were trying for, and we hoped for the 5th or 6th floor to be above the trees but with an open balcony. It worked out great, and probably was our favorite room yet.
Following along! This year we live vicariously through you for the September trip. Can't wait to see how it went.
We had a ball, and have a ton of pictures to share. We almost got caught up in weather issues, but wound up completely avoiding it and having some super low crowd levels at the beginning of the trip.
 
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Living vicariously through you! We go in December, with our 2 year old. First time for him, first time for me in 6 or 7 years. When we went last time we did zero planning and had a great time. This time there is so much planning going into it. Toddlers aren't know for their fly by the seat of the pants adventure skills lol

Can't wait to read more!
 
Happy birthday,:cake::bday: Allie!
Aww, thanks so much. Today is the day!
Joining in!
Thanks! We’re glad to have you back.
Living vicariously through you! We go in December, with our 2 year old. First time for him, first time for me in 6 or 7 years. When we went last time we did zero planning and had a great time. This time there is so much planning going into it. Toddlers aren't know for their fly by the seat of the pants adventure skills lol

Can't wait to read more!
Welcome! We’re glad that you found us. Trip Reports are great to pass the time between your trips. Taking kids at two years old is such a neat time. That was when we took Allie for her first trip, and we all loved it. (If you get bored enough you can read that TR from the links in our signature). It was the same with our son, even though he had been at a younger age two is special. As they get older they form more opinions about what they want to do and when, but that’s all good too.
Despite the overall increase in planning for WDW trips in recent years with ADRs and Fastpasses, we still love our unscheduled time where we get to fly by the seat of our pants and do something new. We still got to do that a couple of times this trip and had fun.
 
Sounds like an awesome travel day! Thats a great tip to bring old lids from home for mugs that all have the same lid! The green does look cool on the Halloween mug!
 
Sounds like an awesome travel day! Thats a great tip to bring old lids from home for mugs that all have the same lid! The green does look cool on the Halloween mug!
It was a great day, and we still can't believe our luck in getting from the airport to the resort.
Bringing mug lids started because I really like haveing a green mug and they aren't always available, but now we bring an assortment of colors so everybody can have a unique combination. They are also a lot smaller to store at home than whole mugs...
I can't wait to read all about yout trip!!:love:
Thanks, we're glad you joined in. We're working on the next update and should have it up before too long.
 
Bringing mug lids started because I really like haveing a green mug and they aren't always available, but now we bring an assortment of colors so everybody can have a unique combination. They are also a lot smaller to store at home than whole mugs...
Does that mean you throw away the old mugs, and keep only the lids?
 

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