VWL Groupies & Lovers Thread (Special Collectors Edition 2.0) updated 21 June 2023

[Corinne]

That sure is a lot on your plates, DDad....Sending good thoughts and hugs to Di! You’re a great team!

 

[jimmytammy]

Dad and Di
Sending you all the best wishes I can muster up for a successful next few weeks and a beautiful wedding. I got a feeling, knowing you both, it will go off without a hitch, and when its over, you will crash in the best way possible Hugs to you folks!!

 

[Dizny Dad]

Thanks all. But when it is all said and done, she still has to put up with me.

 

[Shellybird]

Hi everyone,

It’s been a long time since we have been to VWL at Christmas time. I am thrilled to be going back this Christmas. Years ago, VWL DCVers would share Christmas decorations for rooms and then leave them there for another VWLer. Someone who was going early would volunteer to start, others would chip or send stuff early for the next DCVer coming in who was participating.

Is this something we still do or has it fallen by the wayside?

Shellybird

 

[jimmytammy]

Welcome to the Groupies Shellybird!!!!
We used to participate in the Christmas tree exchange, would deliver a tree, or leave ours after a visit. Not sure if they still do this or not, but I remember it being a specific post on the DVC Forums, and not generally posted here. I would so a search for Christmas tree exchange and see if something pops.

 

[jimmytammy]

Thanks all. But when it is all said and done, she still has to put up with me.

Aww, Dad, you're not that bad(are you?)

 

[Dizny Dad]

Aww, Dad, you're not that bad(are you?)

Like all men, I see myself as an enlightened 21st century man; helping others, lighting the load of the down trodden, friend to all, loved by children.
But let's face it . . . I'm sure someone somewhere would argue with that. I hope DiznyDi wouldn't be one of them.

 

[Dizny Dad]

Shellybird . . WELCOME to our little corner of the Internet. I hope you realize that by stepping foot into this thread, your are forever a Wilderness Lodge Groupie, and with that, we expect to see you at Christmas time for the Groupie meet!

Jimmy was correct; check the DVC Threads for the Christmas Tree exchange. DiznyDi & I used to participate for a number of years by donating a decorated 3 ft. tree and shipping to the Lodge with a listing of names and dates of arrival. The tree was packaged in a substantial box, decorations "wired" on (as the tree would take its toll!), and an envelope for any small cash donations to help with shipping. The list was generated BEFORE anyone arrived by participating in the thread. I'm sorry I don't recall which Forum or Thread. There would be as many as six to eight families on the tree we would send. The Family name was listed on the side of the box, with arrival information. The Lodge always gracefully cooperated with the back and forth from family to Bell Services to family. And sure enough, the tree would arrive back home after the holidays, to be refreshed and packaged for the next year. The exchange kind of died out for use around 2010/2012. As Jimmy stated search the threads for the Christmas Tree Exchange. We also used to decorate our balcony and door during the holidays, but DVC began to frown on the balcony decorating, as it took away from the general appearance of the Lodge. (Their opinion, not ours!) We still have a door hanger in our Owners Locker that allows us to hang things on our door.

 

[DVC Jen]

Welcome Shellybird. Christmas at the lodge is exceptional. I hope you have a wonderful time. We won't make it there this year but I will be with everyone in spirit.

 

[DVC Jen]

Does anyone else feel twinges of regret when you plan on staying at another DVC resort onsite? We currently have a week booked at BRV for early June - but plan on trying to move it over to BWV at the 7th month time period. While I am excited and looking forward to staying in a resort we haven't tried yet, I have twinges of sadness and regret about going somewhere else. LOL It's ridiculous I know. I just love our lodge so much. My heart will always be there.

 

[BillPA]

The best part of trying other DVC resort is you will just love BRV more when you return. Nothing bad about BWV, but it's not BRV.

 

[twinklebug]

Does anyone else feel twinges of regret when you plan on staying at another DVC resort onsite? We currently have a week booked at BRV for early June - but plan on trying to move it over to BWV at the 7th month time period. While I am excited and looking forward to staying in a resort we haven't tried yet, I have twinges of sadness and regret about going somewhere else.

The excitement of trying a new resort will get you through. IMHO, you can't go wrong with BWV. It has just enough ritz and quirkiness that you won't feel like it's stuffy. I love how the boats have similar horns to the ones on Bay Lake. Between the music and the low rumble of people talking in the distance, I can sit on my balcony there and easily pass time as 8 different ones come and go.

 

[jimmytammy]

Does anyone else feel twinges of regret when you plan on staying at another DVC resort onsite? We currently have a week booked at BRV for early June - but plan on trying to move it over to BWV at the 7th month time period. While I am excited and looking forward to staying in a resort we haven't tried yet, I have twinges of sadness and regret about going somewhere else. LOL It's ridiculous I know. I just love our lodge so much. My heart will always be there.

I will never forget the feeling I had when we did this for the 1st time. We stayed at OKW because of the points we had, and my folks were joining us, so made sense at the time that we book where we could take advantage of less pts.
That trip, LOL, caused us to buy more pts. at VWL, realizing if we wanted to continue to share them, we needed more so we could be at home next time. I felt less compelled to stay at VWl after Ranger Stan passed away as something felt "lost" there for me. But over time, I have returned and through we enjoy trying other resorts, I feel the tugging at my heart of VWL whilst I am at another place.
We do own pts. at BWV as our 2nd home. I feel you will really like it. Its a different vibe for sure from what you are used too at VWL, but with the amenities being different, close proximity to 2 parks, etc., it really is a cool place to be. Enjoy!

 

[Granny]

Does anyone else feel twinges of regret when you plan on staying at another DVC resort onsite? We currently have a week booked at BRV for early June - but plan on trying to move it over to BWV at the 7th month time period. While I am excited and looking forward to staying in a resort we haven't tried yet, I have twinges of sadness and regret about going somewhere else. LOL It's ridiculous I know. I just love our lodge so much. My heart will always be there.

We have stayed at every WDW DVC resort except PBV (no 1BRs!) and CCV. Over the years it has helped us avoid "Disney burnout" as visits to new resorts kept the experience fresh, and we found every resort to have its own charm and appeal. But we always had to come back to VWL after a couple of trips elsewhere.

Our first "sampling" of other DVC resorts was at BWV in 2002. We were amazed as we had never been in the Crescent Lake area and didn't really know it existed! We had a great time, and since we needed more points we bought our second contract at BWV. It is a completely different experience than VWL...the noise and bustle of the Boardwalk, walking to two parks, several dining options within an easy walk...and we enjoyed it quite a bit. But every trip that we stayed somewhere else, we always visited VWL on that trip. Sometimes it was just a sandwich at Roaring Fork, other times we just walked around the resort or sat in the lobby for a while. But we always have to get our VWL fix on every trip regardless of where we stay. I imagine in the future that this fix will include an adult beverage at Geyser Point.

So I can say we've never regretted staying somewhere else, but I can also say that we're always happy to check-in to VWL. It's great to have other options, but as Dorothy said, there's no place like home.

 

[DVC Jen]

We have stayed at every WDW DVC resort except PBV (no 1BRs!) and CCV. Over the years it has helped us avoid "Disney burnout" as visits to new resorts kept the experience fresh, and we found every resort to have its own charm and appeal. But we always had to come back to VWL after a couple of trips elsewhere.

That is exactly why we are doing this. Ian likes Disney a lot but to be honest it is our oldest daughter and myself who LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Ian wanted to do something different as far as vacation this year. We really don't have the funds to pay for a hotel room as well as dining, entertainment and everything else. I am always the one who does all the vacation planning - regardless of where we go. So I told him if he wanted to do something different then he was going to have to figure it all out and make it work. That wasn't happening. LOL So - we are going back to the world but the plan is to try things we have never done yet. That means staying at a resort we haven't stayed at. Ian chose BWV. Hopefully it won't be an issue to move our reservation from BRV to BWV at the 7 month window. We are also going to try new restaurants, take a tour we haven't done yet, mini golf at Fantasia (we have done Winter/Summerland) and spend some time really exploring the new Disney Springs. Then we will be off to our 2nd home resort - Vero Beach for 3 more nights.

I am looking forward to trying Boardwalk - but gosh I am going to miss walking into the lobby at BRV and feel that immediate release of stress because we are home and that home is so perfect for us. WL and BRV makes me so happy it moves me to tears. I just love it that much. I would be happy staying there each and every trip. But to keep Ian happy and hopefully help with the burn out we will be trying something new.

FYI - we have stayed at BCV, OKW, AKV, BLT, HHI as well. We do not really like BCV. OKW I liked and Ian didn't mind. Our daughters were less than thrilled with it. AKV was nice but so far away from everything. BLT there were 4 of us in a studio and we honestly didn't mind it at all. I loved the kitchenette area especially. HHI we all liked so much. Then of course we have stayed at Vero numerous times. Now with all of that said - home is where the heart is and my heart is firmly planted at the WL and BRV.

 

[Granny]

That is exactly why we are doing this. Ian likes Disney a lot but to be honest it is our oldest daughter and myself who LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Ian wanted to do something different as far as vacation this year. We really don't have the funds to pay for a hotel room as well as dining, entertainment and everything else. I am always the one who does all the vacation planning - regardless of where we go. So I told him if he wanted to do something different then he was going to have to figure it all out and make it work. That wasn't happening. LOL So - we are going back to the world but the plan is to try things we have never done yet. That means staying at a resort we haven't stayed at. Ian chose BWV. Hopefully it won't be an issue to move our reservation from BRV to BWV at the 7 month window. We are also going to try new restaurants, take a tour we haven't done yet, mini golf at Fantasia (we have done Winter/Summerland) and spend some time really exploring the new Disney Springs. Then we will be off to our 2nd home resort - Vero Beach for 3 more nights.

I am looking forward to trying Boardwalk - but gosh I am going to miss walking into the lobby at BRV and feel that immediate release of stress because we are home and that home is so perfect for us. WL and BRV makes me so happy it moves me to tears. I just love it that much. I would be happy staying there each and every trip. But to keep Ian happy and hopefully help with the burn out we will be trying something new.

FYI - we have stayed at BCV, OKW, AKV, BLT, HHI as well. We do not really like BCV. OKW I liked and Ian didn't mind. Our daughters were less than thrilled with it. AKV was nice but so far away from everything. BLT there were 4 of us in a studio and we honestly didn't mind it at all. I loved the kitchenette area especially. HHI we all liked so much. Then of course we have stayed at Vero numerous times. Now with all of that said - home is where the heart is and my heart is firmly planted at the WL and BRV.

I think you'll have a great time at BWV. Since you are doing things you haven't done before, you may want to spend some time on the Boardwalk...maybe get an ice cream and watch some of the street performers for a while. I'm sure you'll think of other things that you haven't done yet.

But you have definitely found the right support group for your WL addiction! You won't get many people here trying to talk you off of THAT ledge. After all, for this group, the WL campus is

 

[ArielSRL]

Does anyone else feel twinges of regret when you plan on staying at another DVC resort onsite? We currently have a week booked at BRV for early June - but plan on trying to move it over to BWV at the 7th month time period. While I am excited and looking forward to staying in a resort we haven't tried yet, I have twinges of sadness and regret about going somewhere else. LOL It's ridiculous I know. I just love our lodge so much. My heart will always be there.

We are new DVC owners at BRV (VWL) but we have 2 trips under our belt there and another booked. My DH loves the familiarity as does my oldest son (6) and I love the Lodge. However, I do want to try some other resorts. I’m getting some pushback from DH and DS6 though! I’ve even considered doing a split stay in 2020 (planning a dedicated stay at BCV or BWV) just so we can get that boat to WL. I guess we will decide next year!

 

[twinklebug]

Just noticed the DVC portal now (um, again, after a failed start on the software side) allows us to modify our stays without calling MS. I tested it and it seems to work great.

 

[DVC Jen]

I tested it and it seems to work great.

QUICK!!!! KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!

 

[twinklebug]

QUICK!!!! KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!

I hear you! It seems as though if it works and is useful, then Disney's IT will find a way to break it or remove it altogether.