VWL/Eastern Fantasy Cruise/AKV CL all wrapped into a fabulous b-day trip - Complete

[Leshaface]

Just marking my spot and coming back to catch up

 

[mousetravel]

I'm here!

I can't wait to hear more about this cruise! My DD and I were wanting to do this same cruise, but the prices were getting too high, and with me only working part time while in school, I thought we might wait a year or two and then do it!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Those horses are such beautiful animals. I have loved horses all my life. I have to make sure to have a look around Fort Wilderness the next time we go to WDW.

Corinna

 

[Leshaface]

I've always wanted to stay at WL. It reminds me so much of the Grand Californian. So magnificent and gorgeous!

Corrina - they have these cookies at Ghirardelli's at DCA!

Aw such beautiful horses. I used to have a best friend in high school who owned a few horses so on the weekends I would go over and ride them with her. So much fun! The last 'horse' I've been on was in Puerto Vallarta on our Mexican Riviera cruise taking donkey's up the side of a mountain!

 

[franandaj]

I read this all last night on my phone, but forgot to comment! What a nice and serene path there. We will have to take a go on it when we visit in September!

 

[naomiswanson]

VWL is one of my wish place to go and I really like the place specifically the whole room I consider this as one of the tourist spot. But, please maintain the good services.

 

[Pinkocto]

This is a little OT but for everyone who followed my last TR my tanzanite pendant finally arrived After a very long 10 weeks, not the 4-6 weeks I was told, I finally have my birthday present.

The earrings really don't look that light, but next to the pendant they do. The head jeweler finally called mom last week and told her they hadn't been able to find one the exact size as mine and still with the color and clarity so they had to give us one a little bigger. He said he'd send paperwork with it but there wasn't any in the box, so I'm not sure how much bigger. The stone mom originally purchased was 2.51 carats. I'm still displeased with how long this took, customer service does not seem to be their strong suit. I am happy I finally have my jewel.

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh, we like AKV too! That's our favorite after our home resort of OKW!

I keep thinking of OKW and how much I enjoyed it. I need to figure out when I can get back there, even if it's just for a long weekend.

 

[Pinkocto]

I wouldn't change that either. Sounds fabulous.

Thanks, I'm really excited I had thought about changing it but I really enjoy CL and I can always do VWL next December.

 

[Pinkocto]

Great pics!

Thank you

 

[Pinkocto]

How nice that you walked all the way out to FW. That amazing view of the Contemp and BLT surprised me too the first time I saw it. It's really a cool perspective.

We both really enjoyed the walk. It was a great adventure pre-cruise. I had thought for certain MK was on our right so was quite confused to see them clearly on the left... Usually I'm really good with directions but I totally failed that day.

How nice that you got to go in the stable. I always go down there too early in the morning.

I loved the little nook they have of Walt's history with horses. I couldn't get a good picture but we stayed for a while reading and enjoying the pictures. Of course I loved the horses.

I agree that Roaring forks is just too darn small.

The whole layout just boggles my mind. I'm surprised people haven't complained enough that it's been changed.

 

[Pinkocto]

Just marking my spot and coming back to catch up

Welcome! Thanks for coming over

I've always wanted to stay at WL. It reminds me so much of the Grand Californian. So magnificent and gorgeous!

Corrina - they have these cookies at Ghirardelli's at DCA!

Aw such beautiful horses. I used to have a best friend in high school who owned a few horses so on the weekends I would go over and ride them with her. So much fun! The last 'horse' I've been on was in Puerto Vallarta on our Mexican Riviera cruise taking donkey's up the side of a mountain!

WL really was gorgeous. This architect has such a talent. I'm so excited to see the Grand Californian.

Oh I just love horses. We have a beach out here that has wild horses that just roam, I love going out there and watching them. I can take Conner which is a bonus but he likes barking at them which is very annoying.

 

[dgbg100106]

This is a little OT but for everyone who followed my last TR my tanzanite pendant finally arrived After a very long 10 weeks, not the 4-6 weeks I was told, I finally have my birthday present.

The earrings really don't look that light, but next to the pendant they do. The head jeweler finally called mom last week and told her they hadn't been able to find one the exact size as mine and still with the color and clarity so they had to give us one a little bigger. He said he'd send paperwork with it but there wasn't any in the box, so I'm not sure how much bigger. The stone mom originally purchased was 2.51 carats. I'm still displeased with how long this took, customer service does not seem to be their strong suit. I am happy I finally have my jewel.

Beautiful! It is really beautiful.

I know you are glad to have it, and the fact that they gave you a bigger one, does not make the fact of poor customer service any better.

Mabye you can write something up about them on a review site, so others might know to review their purchases and make sure everything is perfect before leaving and that they might expect the same service if they have to return something.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm here!

I can't wait to hear more about this cruise! My DD and I were wanting to do this same cruise, but the prices were getting too high, and with me only working part time while in school, I thought we might wait a year or two and then do it!

Welcome! That would have been a fabulous coincidence! I booked it a couple weeks after it got released in November 2011. I hadn't even gone on the first cruise yet but was so sure we'd love cruising I went ahead and booked it. The prices really went crazy closer to the cruise. For the same category it was $1500 more than what I booked at. I ended up changing it to points because I had extra I needed to use up.

The Fantasy really is gorgeous. I'm hoping they'll start dropping prices in the next few years now that she's not brand new. I'll be curious what happens.

 

[Pinkocto]

Those horses are such beautiful animals. I have loved horses all my life. I have to make sure to have a look around Fort Wilderness the next time we go to WDW.

Corinna

I was really surprised how lovely FW was, it's definitely worth a visit. It's right on the water which is beautiful, and of course I'll be back for the horses.

 

[Pinkocto]

I read this all last night on my phone, but forgot to comment! What a nice and serene path there. We will have to take a go on it when we visit in September!

I don't know how the scooters do on dirt paths, but there is also a paved path starting by the bus stops. Halfway through the dirt path we intersected with the paved one. I felt it was a very fun pre-cruise adventure

 

[Pinkocto]

VWL is one of my wish place to go and I really like the place specifically the whole room I consider this as one of the tourist spot. But, please maintain the good services.

It was a beautiful resort, I hope you're able to get there

 

[Pinkocto]

Beautiful! It is really beautiful.

I know you are glad to have it, and the fact that they gave you a bigger one, does not make the fact of poor customer service any better.

Mabye you can write something up about them on a review site, so others might know to review their purchases and make sure everything is perfect before leaving and that they might expect the same service if they have to return something.

Thank you I had almost forgotten how beautiful the first one was, so when I took it out of the box I was really pleased.

The biggest problem is is that the Disney shopping lady is the one who picked it up from the jeweler and brought it to the ship. I never saw it in the setting until we were far from Nassau. I hope I would have checked it out thoroughly if I had stayed and waited for them to set it but I have no idea what would have happened.

I'm so glad the waiting is over.

 

[Pinkocto]

We continued to explore Fort Wilderness, and we were both surprised how beautiful the grounds were.

Anyone know the difference between Mickey’s Backyard BBQ and the Hoop Dee Doo Review?

The General Store

We found where they do the Hoop Dee Doo Review

It was a gorgeous day

I was really surprised to see someone walking their dog. I had no idea pets were allowed which I think is really cool.

At this point we needed to head back to the WL. We had time enough to walk back and that’s what we started to do, but as we were passing the bus stops there was one for WL. We started running and even though the bus driver had started to pull away she saw us and reopened the doors. Disney magic at its finest! We would have had a lovely walk back but it was also nice to rest our feet. We had a long day ahead of us and didn’t want to get too tired! We of course thanked the driver many times.

Back at WL we lounged in the lobby for a little bit. We had about 45 minutes to wait. I needed to check in with the DCL CM when I saw them so I kept an eye out. I caught up in the journal while mom wrote postcards. I saw the CM walking around so I went to check in with her. It was just verifying that we were here and how many pieces of luggage were picked up that morning. After mom had put her post cards in the mail box we went and did some last minute exploring of WL. We found some fabulous nooks to relax in.

How can you not love these details

And with that we headed back down to the lobby and waited for the DCL bus to arrive.

 

[Pinkocto]

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