1/7/01 - We arrived at WDW from the airport by Tiffany Towncar. Frank, our driver, was waiting for us just before the baggage carousel. He drives for both himself and Tiffany with his own car and he explained that Tiffany has its own fleet of cars as well as contracting out to drivers that have cars. His car seemed older than I had expected, but it was clean and there were no problems. He was very friendly and gave us lots of tips and interesting information about the area around WDW. We stopped for a quick grocery stop at a Publix near WDW that was clean and had what we needed. While on the subject of Tiffany, IâÂÂll cover our return trip as well. Daniel, a young man from Brazil, was waiting at our hotel at least 15 minutes before our scheduled pick-up time. He was driving one of the Tiffany cars, a beautiful, shiny, black Towncar â very nice, very comfortable. Daniel explained heâÂÂs in the US working on his English skills. I thought he was doing rather well and he did a fine job getting us to the airport in time. I would highly recommend Tiffany to anyone, and also recommend that you only tip the first driver for the trip to the hotel in case another driver comes to pick you up for the return trip.
Now, onto the good stuff⦠The Wilderness Lodge.
The Wilderness Lodge was everything I had hoped it would be. It was beautiful, the architecture just amazed me. You really feel like you are in the Northwest with all the sights, sounds and smells. If you are into western themes or native american theming, this is a perfect place. I also think itâÂÂs a good choice if you have a man traveling with you and want to impress him. My DH didnâÂÂt care about this trip before we left, but he thanked me later. It wasnâÂÂt just WDW that impressed him, but the WL too. Our room overlooked a pond and trees, through which we could see the Castle. We also had a view of the smokehouse and could see part of a parking area. Since we paid for a standard room we were extremely pleased with the lovely view. Everyday there were a variety of birds and ducks at the pond, and one afternoon we watched 2 river otters playing! (My DH teased me later, he told me he stayed on the balcony to watch the otters when I left and that after awhile a man came with a cage and the otters got out of the water and went right into it. I actually believed him for a minute!) The ducks even come and swim in the pool with the guests, and last week they brought their tiny duckling with them. We found several hidden MickeyâÂÂs (Stan helped us with a hard one), the kids spent time at the Lincoln Log table, we watched the geyser, saw the Electrical Water Pageant, and swam twice (the weather was between the upper 30âÂÂs to 60âÂÂs most of the time, but a few times it hit 70 to 74). IâÂÂm so glad we switched our ressie to the WL, we spent enough time at our resort to justify the expense. We ate at Whispering Canyon, Artist Pointe (breakfast only), Roaring Forks Snack bar and had drinks at Territory Lounge â IâÂÂll cover those later in a dining review, but IâÂÂll say that Whispering Canyon was much better than I had expected and we went back for a second dinner (we never ordered the all-you-can-eat meal). The staff at WL was friendly, and twice our maid left a towel animal arranged with our childrenâÂÂs stuffed animals. Our room was not as big as some might expect from a deluxe hotel, but it was worth it to us to have bunkbeds. The hotel was very clean, our room was mostly clean (something sticky like candy above the lower bunk and on bedspread). We used the Resort ID for charging and never had a problem with purchases or charges, but we should have checked our charges earlier in the week - we charged more than we thought! We purchased the refillable mugs right away and they paid for themselves in no time, definitely worth the money! We also made a few purchases in the Mercantile and thought they had a pretty good selection of stuff.
WDW transportation was mostly great, we loved not driving anywhere. We took boats, buses and the monorail everywhere. Our trip to Downtown Disney the first night was our longest wait for a bus, 25 minutes. Most of the time a bus came within 5-15 minutes, a boat about the same. Downtown Disney was nice, but I wish we had saved our energy for the next day and skipped it. If you arrive at Disney tired, my tip is to rest that first night at your hotel and donâÂÂt feel like you must go out and see or do something. Find a character meal if you need to get into the Disney mood, but donâÂÂt walk around all night and tire out your feet or your children. Anyway, back to transportation... don't forget to ask for a ride in the nose of the monorail! We rode from the MK to the Poly and it was fun for all of us. If they say no, ask again another time. Also, if you ride the train at the Magic Kingdom, sit all the way in the last row. There is one seat behind it big enough for two kids. My daughter sat there and was asked by the conductor if she would like to come stand in the back. He had her pressing the buttons for him that control the music and sound. She had such a blast! Later, both kids sat back there and then asked another conductor if they could stand in the back with him. He let them, and even though they didn't get to press any buttons they both enjoyed the ride.
Coming next... Part 2, The Magic Kingdom!
[This message was edited by sunni on 01-17-01 at 01:01 AM.]
Now, onto the good stuff⦠The Wilderness Lodge.
The Wilderness Lodge was everything I had hoped it would be. It was beautiful, the architecture just amazed me. You really feel like you are in the Northwest with all the sights, sounds and smells. If you are into western themes or native american theming, this is a perfect place. I also think itâÂÂs a good choice if you have a man traveling with you and want to impress him. My DH didnâÂÂt care about this trip before we left, but he thanked me later. It wasnâÂÂt just WDW that impressed him, but the WL too. Our room overlooked a pond and trees, through which we could see the Castle. We also had a view of the smokehouse and could see part of a parking area. Since we paid for a standard room we were extremely pleased with the lovely view. Everyday there were a variety of birds and ducks at the pond, and one afternoon we watched 2 river otters playing! (My DH teased me later, he told me he stayed on the balcony to watch the otters when I left and that after awhile a man came with a cage and the otters got out of the water and went right into it. I actually believed him for a minute!) The ducks even come and swim in the pool with the guests, and last week they brought their tiny duckling with them. We found several hidden MickeyâÂÂs (Stan helped us with a hard one), the kids spent time at the Lincoln Log table, we watched the geyser, saw the Electrical Water Pageant, and swam twice (the weather was between the upper 30âÂÂs to 60âÂÂs most of the time, but a few times it hit 70 to 74). IâÂÂm so glad we switched our ressie to the WL, we spent enough time at our resort to justify the expense. We ate at Whispering Canyon, Artist Pointe (breakfast only), Roaring Forks Snack bar and had drinks at Territory Lounge â IâÂÂll cover those later in a dining review, but IâÂÂll say that Whispering Canyon was much better than I had expected and we went back for a second dinner (we never ordered the all-you-can-eat meal). The staff at WL was friendly, and twice our maid left a towel animal arranged with our childrenâÂÂs stuffed animals. Our room was not as big as some might expect from a deluxe hotel, but it was worth it to us to have bunkbeds. The hotel was very clean, our room was mostly clean (something sticky like candy above the lower bunk and on bedspread). We used the Resort ID for charging and never had a problem with purchases or charges, but we should have checked our charges earlier in the week - we charged more than we thought! We purchased the refillable mugs right away and they paid for themselves in no time, definitely worth the money! We also made a few purchases in the Mercantile and thought they had a pretty good selection of stuff.
WDW transportation was mostly great, we loved not driving anywhere. We took boats, buses and the monorail everywhere. Our trip to Downtown Disney the first night was our longest wait for a bus, 25 minutes. Most of the time a bus came within 5-15 minutes, a boat about the same. Downtown Disney was nice, but I wish we had saved our energy for the next day and skipped it. If you arrive at Disney tired, my tip is to rest that first night at your hotel and donâÂÂt feel like you must go out and see or do something. Find a character meal if you need to get into the Disney mood, but donâÂÂt walk around all night and tire out your feet or your children. Anyway, back to transportation... don't forget to ask for a ride in the nose of the monorail! We rode from the MK to the Poly and it was fun for all of us. If they say no, ask again another time. Also, if you ride the train at the Magic Kingdom, sit all the way in the last row. There is one seat behind it big enough for two kids. My daughter sat there and was asked by the conductor if she would like to come stand in the back. He had her pressing the buttons for him that control the music and sound. She had such a blast! Later, both kids sat back there and then asked another conductor if they could stand in the back with him. He let them, and even though they didn't get to press any buttons they both enjoyed the ride.
Coming next... Part 2, The Magic Kingdom!
[This message was edited by sunni on 01-17-01 at 01:01 AM.]
