She's On Top of the World, a September 2018 TR at Copper Creek Villas and Cabins (Completed 12/20)

Thanks for taking the time to do a wrap up! And, the honesty regarding the cabin. I think it will help others who might be trying to decide between the 2. The room prices have gone a little crazy the last couple years. For what the cabin costs, the shower door shouldn't be falling off! I will watch for your 2019 TR - hope you're all healed up before then!
 
Great report! I really loved the wrap up at the end.

I'll be there September 2019 too! I'm hoping for a less crowded visit since my last few trips have all been during school breaks (spring break)/before christmas/mid summer. You know. the worst crowd times haha

I havent yet purchased DVC but I am always on the fence about it. I worry that it would feel less Disney-like to be in the villas but I'm glad to hear you didn't feel that way. I feel like Copper Creek and Polynesian Villas are the two I would go with since their experiences are similar to being in the normal rooms.
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences and photos. I really enjoyed reading your trip report, and I look forward to your future ones!
Thank you so much for the kind comments and following along.

Thanks for taking the time to do a wrap up! And, the honesty regarding the cabin. I think it will help others who might be trying to decide between the 2. The room prices have gone a little crazy the last couple years. For what the cabin costs, the shower door shouldn't be falling off! I will watch for your 2019 TR - hope you're all healed up before then!
We're glad that you enjoyed it, and hopefully it was worth the wait. Things always get busy during the holidays and the whole ankle thing adds a new level of complexity. We wouldn't want to discourage anyone from staying in a cabin, but we want people to know the pros and cons, and cost is a big con. We also just really love the lodge building, and getting to stay in it. We'll probably have a PTR sometime early next year as we start looking into airfare, and then will have a report covering our trip next September. We hope to see you there.

Great report! I really loved the wrap up at the end.

I'll be there September 2019 too! I'm hoping for a less crowded visit since my last few trips have all been during school breaks (spring break)/before christmas/mid summer. You know. the worst crowd times haha

I havent yet purchased DVC but I am always on the fence about it. I worry that it would feel less Disney-like to be in the villas but I'm glad to hear you didn't feel that way. I feel like Copper Creek and Polynesian Villas are the two I would go with since their experiences are similar to being in the normal rooms.
We love September. We have done higher crowd times too, and even tried August last year, but September is still our favorite. Our dates will be September 5-14, 2019, a mere 257 days away.

We really did have some reservations about staying in a DVC room because we really enjoyed staying at Disney Hotels. We always heard that DVC Villas were more like home, with laundry facilities and full kitchens, and that didn't appeal a whole lot to us... While we did come to love and use the in room washer and dryer, we still got to eat out and enjoy our restaurants, so we were definitely not cooking every meal. The extra space was very nice, especially with a group of us sharing the room. Since we got to be in the main building at our beloved WL, we felt right at home, which we loved. It still felt every bit as special and vacation-like, so we're excited about next year and many years to come. That's a major plus side of being DVC, it provides some assurance that we'll be back frequently, which helps with the end of trip depression. We know we'll be back, and are always looking forward to the next trip.
 


Thanks for sharing your trip report. I really enjoyed it. i will also be back at WDW in September 2019 from CA. Did you get into Moonlight Magic at DL for next month?
 
Thanks for sharing! I have enjoyed your report!
Thank you for commenting, we're glad that you enjoyed it.

Thanks for sharing your trip report. I really enjoyed it. i will also be back at WDW in September 2019 from CA. Did you get into Moonlight Magic at DL for next month?
Thanks! That's great that you'll be there in September as well. We unfortunately got busy on Tuesday and didn't get in for Moonlight Madness. It still might have been a little hard with Melissa's leg, but we'd have at least tried it. We did have access to the one in November at CA Adventure, but that wound up being the day of Melissa's ankle surgery. Jon and Brandy went and said the crowds were insane. They got in for DL too, so we'll hear from them how it goes.
 
Really enjoyed your TR and your beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing. I hope you all have wonderful holiday and that Melissa is healing as quickly as possible. I'll keep an eye out for your PTR.
 


She also had her first post-op visit to the doctor, and we got to see her enhanced and reinforced ankle joint.
There are a lot more pins than I expected. I guess they need to make sure the ankle will be strong enough to walk on when it is all healed.

When Paul got back we all sat down and looked at our expense totals for food. We were super excited to see how much we had saved over buying the dining plan. We were even under what we had budgeted.
Did you expect to save as much money as you did?

While we packed, the kids played with the couch cushions and made another fort. They liked this one even more than the two bedroom, since it had an extra chair worth of cushions to use.
It looks like they had a lot of fun with the cushions. :)


Soon it was time to take our packed bags up to resort airline dropoff
You took a shortut through the villas lobby. I love that building. :)

We finally checked out the Coke store, and I got an arctic coke, which is a 20oz bottle chilled to almost freezing to make it like a slushy. I will be back for more of these.
I never heard of Artic Coke but I'm stopping for one next time we are there. I love it when the Coke freezes in the bottle.

Jon, and Brandy took Marshall to the Vera Bradley store to pick up her bag, and Allie and I ran over to World of Disney.
The bag turned out great. It looks like it holds a lot, too.

The TSA lines were long, showing a 20-25 minute wait but it was closer to 45. Two of our bags were flagged for inspection. One was due to some AA batteries and the other was due to post it notes that Melissa had bought as a souvenir.
I think Orlando has some of the worst TSA lines.

It was one of our more strange flights though. The majority of the plane was filled with former convicts returning from a rehabilitation convention in Orlando. I didn’t know there was such a thing but you can’t make this stuff up.
That is slightly creepy.

The time change must work in your favor on the way home.

It was an awesome trip, and we enjoyed coming home on Saturday so that we had an extra day to relax before returning to work.
I love having an extra day to relax. I just wish we could do it more often.

There was another minor thing in the second bedroom of the cabin, there are these nice drawers under the window seat. One of them becomes completely inaccessable when the pull down bed is down. It just felt like a lot of storage to give up.
Are they like the drawers in Alligator Bayou in POR?

Overall, if the cost of the cabin were the same as the two bedroom, we would still want to spend time in the two bedroom. Since it is not, we feel the two bedroom works better for us.
If it was just your family of four and the cabin was the same price as the 2 br villa, would you still choose the villa?

I totally understand why you would prefer being in the main building. Your cabin was a bit of the hike. The view was nice, though.

It was nice not worrying about wasting a table service credit on a lower cost meal which often wasn't much more out of pocket than a quick service meal would have been.
That is what I obsess over - the value of the dining credit over just getting what I want. That is why we won't get the dining plan again.

I also am happy with the amount of unscheduled / down time we had during this trip. One of our most common regrets after a trip is that we didn't get to hang out at the resort as much as we would have wanted, and this time we did that. Our open day at the cabin worked perfectly, so we'll probably try that again next year, even without the cabin.
The more unscheduled time we have at the resort, the more we enjoy the trip. And I think the Wilderness Lodge is the best resort for that, although we did enjoy unscheduled time at POR, too.

I've enjoyed following your trip report and look forward to your next trip. I can see why you like September. It wasn't as crowded as it gets later in the fall.

:)
 
Really enjoyed your TR and your beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing. I hope you all have wonderful holiday and that Melissa is healing as quickly as possible. I'll keep an eye out for your PTR.
Thanks! We’re glad that you enjoyed it. We are all ready for Christmas, despite only having one driver, but fortunately Melissa can order Amazon from her chair.

There are a lot more pins than I expected. I guess they need to make sure the ankle will be strong enough to walk on when it is all healed.:)
Yeah the problem is it was completely unsupported on both sides, so they wanted to make sure it holds. Once the bone heals it should carry most of the load, but the screws and plate keep it in the right spot and will help hold it. Hopefully they don't set off metal detectors at the park entrance though...

Did you expect to save as much money as you did?
We saved more than we expected, which was great. We didn't skimp at all on food, and even added Boathouse a second time and the total was lower than we thought.

It looks like they had a lot of fun with the cushions.
They did. They don't get to do this at home so it was a treat. If our cushions came off they would do it.

You took a shortcut through the villas lobby. I love that building. :)
We found that worked best to get to/ from the cabin. It got us inside quicker and was a straight shot to the buses, or on up to the main lobby.

I never heard of Artic Coke but I'm stopping for one next time we are there. I love it when the Coke freezes in the bottle.
I had never heard of it either but I hope they keep it. It was great. I think they just have it in an extra cold fridge, then they blast it with a little extra cooling to make it freeze. It was so good.

The bag turned out great. It looks like it holds a lot, too.
She loves it, and it is perfect for weekend trips. It holds enough for her and usually at least one of the kids.

I think Orlando has some of the worst TSA lines.
I tend to agree, but at least the TSA people seem to be more family friendly there than some other airports.

That is slightly creepy.
It was definitely odd. Most of them seemed to know each other so it was a big group to be on the plane, but besides being a little loud and wanting off right away they were nice enough.

The time change must work in your favor on the way home.
It does, but we got as late a flight as we could to get to spend the whole day in Orlando, so it was still late when we got home, but totally worth it.

I love having an extra day to relax. I just wish we could do it more often.
This will be our new setup. It is worth taking an extra day off work at the beginning of the trip.

Are they like the drawers in Alligator Bayou in POR?
No, they are different because the drawers are under the window, which is on the front wall perpendicular to the wall with the bed. The bed just comes out far enough that it blocks the drawer from opening.

If it was just your family of four and the cabin was the same price as the 2 br villa, would you still choose the villa?

I totally understand why you would prefer being in the main building. Your cabin was a bit of the hike. The view was nice, though.
That is a great question. We both thought about it, and agreed that we would still like the 2 bedroom. It would be a really tough call though, because the cabin would be great with the four of us, but would feel empty if we didn't have other people on the trip to share it with. It makes a great gathering spot. We do really love being in the main building though. For just a few more points than a cabin, a 3 bedroom grand villa might be a nice way to go with a larger group.

That is what I obsess over - the value of the dining credit over just getting what I want. That is why we won't get the dining plan again.
Yeah, I doubt we will pay for the dining plan again, and now with DVC it is not likely that we will have the chance to get it for free, but that's ok. We are super happy with how it worked out.

The more unscheduled time we have at the resort, the more we enjoy the trip. And I think the Wilderness Lodge is the best resort for that, although we did enjoy unscheduled time at POR, too.
Yes, we totally agree about both resorts. We are looking forward to our resort time next trip.

I've enjoyed following your trip report and look forward to your next trip. I can see why you like September. It wasn't as crowded as it gets later in the fall.
:)
Thanks so much for being our most loyal follower over many trip reports. It was great to meet you guys, and we'll keep you posted about our trip next year.
 
Great trip report again GC! I love all the photos of the lodge and of your visits to parks and restaurants. We haven't thought much about going to The Boathouse, but we will have to add that to our list. Wishing Melissa a speedy recovery!
 
Thank you for commenting, we're glad that you enjoyed it.


Thanks! That's great that you'll be there in September as well. We unfortunately got busy on Tuesday and didn't get in for Moonlight Madness. It still might have been a little hard with Melissa's leg, but we'd have at least tried it. We did have access to the one in November at CA Adventure, but that wound up being the day of Melissa's ankle surgery. Jon and Brandy went and said the crowds were insane. They got in for DL too, so we'll hear from them how it goes.


The November MM at DCA was insane with crowds!!! There was just not enough available to really pull crowds away (with something like 2 showings of Fantasmic in 2017) so lines were long all night. Food lines were ridiculous the whole time. And apparently parking was a disaster since they were doing the taping of Gwen Stefani on the Disneyland side that evening too. That is what I have heard a lot of places, but we stayed at VGC so had easy access to the park for the party. Poor planning for the event all around. Oh and honestly, it did not seem like they were checking wristbands the way that they should so I think there were definitely day crowds still there.
 
I just read the whole TR and really enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to share your trip!
Thanks, we're glad you enjoyed it. That way you didn't have to wait for the next update to come either.

Great trip report again GC! I love all the photos of the lodge and of your visits to parks and restaurants. We haven't thought much about going to The Boathouse, but we will have to add that to our list. Wishing Melissa a speedy recovery!
Thanks, we're glad to have you following along. Melissa is doing well, and hopes to be totally ready for September 2019. We weren't really drawn to Boathouse either, so it was a pleasant surprise.

The November MM at DCA was insane with crowds!!! There was just not enough available to really pull crowds away (with something like 2 showings of Fantasmic in 2017) so lines were long all night. Food lines were ridiculous the whole time. And apparently parking was a disaster since they were doing the taping of Gwen Stefani on the Disneyland side that evening too. That is what I have heard a lot of places, but we stayed at VGC so had easy access to the park for the party. Poor planning for the event all around. Oh and honestly, it did not seem like they were checking wristbands the way that they should so I think there were definitely day crowds still there.
Wow, yeah it added up to a mess. Someday we will get to go to a MM event, and hopefully it will be better organized than that was.

Thanks for such an awesome report. Love the wrap up too!

Staying at CC in a 2 bedroom in February and we’re so excited. I just love WL :lovestruc
Thanks for reading and making the kind comments. You should have a great time, NEXT MONTH! That should be a great trip, and a fun time to go. We are thinking about a February trip in the future.
 
The dress is a Lularoe Carly. That print can be rare and hard to find, so I was glad to get it. I love my Disney Lularoe stuff!

I just read through your entire TR! I searched the DIS for Moonlight Madness because I wanted to get a feel for what it was and what was offered and your TR came up in my search. A happy coincidence! I also wanted to mention I love your LLR Carly's. I own quite a few myself and find it the perfect park wear! Also, when I saw your Black/white Carly with the 3d MM print I had to find one on eBay for myself.....lol......



Before we got on the bus we made some more luggage tags and a dog tag for our new puppy. The metal tags are custom engraved by a machine right in the lobby, and are neat.

While at WCC for breakfast last December we had a new tag made for our Boston Terrier too! I wanted to ask what camera and lenses you tended to bring with you to WDW. I have tried just bringing my cell phone for pics but I honestly feel lost without my dSLR. It looks like you have a Canon because I thought I noticed a red ring around the lens in one of your pics but I could be totally off base. Anyway, great pics!

We are new CCV DVC members as well and will be just missing you in September. We are only spending 2 nights there as we are going to be enjoying 3 trips in 2019. It's the most we've ever done and I'm afraid it'll be something I will want to do every year!
 
I just read through your entire TR! I searched the DIS for Moonlight Madness because I wanted to get a feel for what it was and what was offered and your TR came up in my search. A happy coincidence! I also wanted to mention I love your LLR Carly's. I own quite a few myself and find it the perfect park wear! Also, when I saw your Black/white Carly with the 3d MM print I had to find one on eBay for myself.....lol......
That's great, however you found us. It is funny how side conversations like that can lead into other topics and into other reports. We're glad that you liked what you found.

While at WCC for breakfast last December we had a new tag made for our Boston Terrier too! I wanted to ask what camera and lenses you tended to bring with you to WDW. I have tried just bringing my cell phone for pics but I honestly feel lost without my dSLR. It looks like you have a Canon because I thought I noticed a red ring around the lens in one of your pics but I could be totally off base. Anyway, great pics!
Great eye! We love our Canon 6D, and it has been with us on every Disney trip since we got it just before our 2013 trip. We usually use a 24-105 F4 lens that works well for general park stuff. We haven't even brought other lenses with us the last few years. We do tend to carry the SLR with us on most park days, and it just becomes part of our park gear. I also always take it with me on my morning walks around the resort, and that's when I get some of my favorite pictures. Sometimes we go out with just the cell phones, and not having to carry the camera is nice, but then we regret it when there's a picture we really want, or when we are writing the trip report and are forced to use a less than great phone picture to show what we did.

We are new CCV DVC members as well and will be just missing you in September. We are only spending 2 nights there as we are going to be enjoying 3 trips in 2019. It's the most we've ever done and I'm afraid it'll be something I will want to do every year!
Congratulations! DVC membership is really neat, especially at Copper Creek. Making three trips sounds great, and we're kind of jealous, but we make the most out of only paying for the airfare once a year. We also are looking forward to getting to do some DVC events at DLR, like hopefully a moonlight madness event eventually. We did go to an early screening of Coco, which was really cool. September is a great time at WDW, and we can't wait to be back!
 
Thanks to life I was so behind on my Trip Reports so just caught up. Love Allie's dress from France. I hope they still have those in February. I think my 8 year old would love that!
 
Thanks to life I was so behind on my Trip Reports so just caught up. Love Allie's dress from France. I hope they still have those in February. I think my 8 year old would love that!
Great, we’re glad that you got caught up. They had the dresses for over a year, so hopefully they are still there. They are in the little shop on the right as you are walking towards Les Halles. They had a few different colors besides the blue print, I think they had pink and maybe yellow. You get to go check them out next month!
 
I loved your TR! I have always wanted to stay at Copper Creek so I especially enjoyed reading this. I also have always aspired to a more laid back trip - you make it look easy! I remember reading a previous TR from you - before you joined DVC - your kids have grown and are adorable.
 

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