The Wilderness Must be Destroyed!

[shoreline99 137]

8 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

It just dawned on me that the style of these new villas is similar to what they did to the Fort Wilderness cabins- they took out all of the charming wilderness theming, and went for a Courtyard by Marriot generic look.

OMG I never commented on that after our last trip. You hit the nail on the head. The bedroom is still 'wilderness-ey', but that pull out couch is awful sunbrella fabric and doesn't fit in the cabin. Too many patterns - on the curtains, the furniture, etc.

It was, though, one of the most comfortable pull-outs that I've slept on. And I've slept on more than a few in my time. Still, not a comfortable (or convenient) as the murphy bed. And while the extra storage is nice, who needs a 50" tv in the cabin when you should be out exploring the wilderness or in the parks??

[lightbikes 73]

On March 20, 2017 at 8:58 AM, Tri-Circle-D said:

Somebody from the DVCInfo.com website toured the model rooms for the Copper Creek Villas that they have on display at the Saratoga Springs Resort, here are a couple of the photos (Credit to DVCInfo.com) :

You can see them all here: https://dvcinfo.com/copper-creek-villas-model-room-photos/

For any of you who have ever been lucky enough to stay at Wilderness Lodge, you know that this is not what the rooms there look like.

It just dawned on me that the style of these new villas is similar to what they did to the Fort Wilderness cabins- they took out all of the charming wilderness theming, and went for a Courtyard by Marriot generic look.

When I started this thread, I was more focused on the fact that they had destroyed the forests that surrounded the resort, I had no idea that they were going to destroy the inside of the resort as well.

TCD

Yuck - ugly!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I stopped by the Lodge briefly on Saturday, March 25, 2017, and snapped a few photos of the progress of the DVC expansion project.

First, this is a photo that I took on my last visit here just last month:

I thought that I was losing it, because I thought that Mickey topiary used to be closer to the walkway leading in to the DVC lobby.

Well, I'm not losing it, because today it was in its old spot:

They are making progress on the pool. Now the fake boulders have been weathered.  It was around 11:30 am, and you can see that the crew is over there on the right taking a break from making fake rocks:

If you look past the construction fencing, you can see that they've planted a bunch of slash pines and bushes to replace the trees they clear cut to make room for the cabins:

Looking over toward the old east wing of the Lodge, you can see that there's a guy up on the roof, and I also spotted workers on the balconies of the rooms that are being converted to DVC villas.  It looked to me that the rooms are still empty and they are still working on getting the walls up.  No worries, they've got until July, and those IKEA kitchens will pop right in:

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The wait is finally over for those of you who have been waiting for your chance to snap up a membership at Disney's newest DVC resort:

General Sales for Copper Creek Villas & Cabins are Now Open

by Amanda Adler, Public Relations Manager, Adventures by Disney

If you’ve been dreaming of becoming a Disney Vacation Club Member today is the day! General sales for Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, the newest Disney Vacation Club Resort, are now open (not offered in all states).

The Resort, which is currently under construction, is scheduled to open July 17. But you can get a sneak peek at how it’s coming along in this video!

Inspired by the legendary mining and railroad history of the Pacific Northwest, Copper Creek Villas & Cabins will offer rustically elegant accommodations, including Deluxe Studios, one- and two-bedroom Villas, and even three-bedroom Grand Villas, which sleep up to 12.

The new Resort will also include 26 all-new luxurious waterfront cabins that sleep up to eight and feature two bedrooms, two baths and large dining and living room spaces (not to mention a hot tub)!

Look for even more details about this, our 14th Disney Vacation Club Resort, on the Disney Parks Blog in the months to come. Until then, visit DisneyCopperCreek.com to learn more.

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/04/general-sales-for-copper-creek-villas-cabins-are-now-open/

TCD

[Duane 152]

If you have 28 minutes to spare, take a look at the new marketing video that DVC has just sent out for Copper Creek Villas and Cabins...  There is a sweepstakes to enter for a chance to win a 5 night stay in a 1 bedroom villa, 1 for DVC members and 1 for non-members.  Should you choose to view, there is a section for current DVC members to access and one for non-members. I'm pretty sure the information is the same regardless of which path you choose.  Warning though, in prime Disney fashion, there are several "DVC commercials" showcasing the benefits of the overall program.  If you don't want to see that, then you can fast forward past it.  All in all, its a well put together video and shows more detail how the spaces will look.  If you like HGTV, or DIY Network, you will feel right at home.  Enjoy!

DVC Copper Creek Villas & Cabins 

[Travisma 1,317]

21 minutes ago, Duane said:

If you have 28 minutes to spare, take a look at the new marketing video that DVC has just sent out for Copper Creek Villas and Cabins...  There is a sweepstakes to enter for a chance to win a 5 night stay in a 1 bedroom villa, 1 for DVC members and 1 for non-members.  Should you choose to view, there is a section for current DVC members to access and one for non-members. I'm pretty sure the information is the same regardless of which path you choose.  Warning though, in prime Disney fashion, there are several "DVC commercials" showcasing the benefits of the overall program.  If you don't want to see that, then you can fast forward past it.  All in all, its a well put together video and shows more detail how the spaces will look.  If you like HGTV, or DIY Network, you will feel right at home.  Enjoy!

DVC Copper Creek Villas & Cabins 

And you have to access the video to be able to enter the contest.

I tried getting around it and nope it doesn't work.

[kadancer 82]

We stayed in the WL for our honeymoon and this makes me very sad....

[Duane 152]

1 hour ago, Travisma said:

And you have to access the video to be able to enter the contest.

I tried getting around it and nope it doesn't work.

Yes, you have to watch the entire video, review the rules and then you can enter the drawing... You can however skip the "DVC commercials" within the video by moving the slider at the bottom of the screen.  I should have been more specific on that tidbit...

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1 hour ago, Duane said:

If you have 28 minutes to spare, take a look at the new marketing video that DVC has just sent out for Copper Creek Villas and Cabins...  There is a sweepstakes to enter for a chance to win a 5 night stay in a 1 bedroom villa, 1 for DVC members and 1 for non-members.  Should you choose to view, there is a section for current DVC members to access and one for non-members. I'm pretty sure the information is the same regardless of which path you choose.  Warning though, in prime Disney fashion, there are several "DVC commercials" showcasing the benefits of the overall program.  If you don't want to see that, then you can fast forward past it.  All in all, its a well put together video and shows more detail how the spaces will look.  If you like HGTV, or DIY Network, you will feel right at home.  Enjoy!

DVC Copper Creek Villas & Cabins 

Thanks for sharing this, Duane.

The video is pretty good.  The host (is she someone I'm supposed to know?) did a good job pointing out some of the details on the new Copper Creek units.  I like how they have a railroad rail along the top of the cabinets, and gears for lamps. 

Also, the computer generated images of the finished pool were very interesting to me.

This one shows new exterior finishes on the old DVC Villas building, which I found interesting:

And this one shows the weird building adjacent to the pool deck- I guess that will be the restrooms.  For a while, I thought they'd make guests use the restrooms in Geyser Point, or the original restrooms in the Villas building, but I guess they built new ones.   I can't figure out any other purpose that building would have:

I entered the contest!  I can't figure out how the prize is worth $13K, as it seems like all they're offering is a 7 night stay in a one bedroom unit- not one of the lakeside cabins, and it doesn't say anything about food or park tickets.

I also feel like I'm going to get bombard by DVC salespeople.

TCD

[keith_h 420]

I just put the video on mute and came back half an hour later to finish up entering the contest. 

[Avatab.... Steve 124]

On 5/23/2017 at 4:44 PM, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

The video is pretty good.  The host (is she someone I'm supposed to know?) did a good job pointing out some of the details on the new Copper Creek units.  I like how they have a railroad rail along the top of the cabinets, and gears for lamps. 

 

 

 Where's Stacy when we need her?

 

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It's hard to believe that a year and a half has passed since they broke out the chainsaws, but it has, and the new Copper Creek Cabins and Villas are almost done.

In a very odd twist, the TCD gang stayed in one of the Boulder Ridge Deluxe DVC studios for one night this week.  It was the oldest TCD DD's birthday, and Mrs. TCD and I decided that we would drive over and take her out to dinner.  Then we invited the twins, and next thing we knew, we had a plan to visit Disney Springs, and spend the night at Boulder Ridge.

We arrived on Tuesday, June 20th.  I put in a room request for an upper floor room with a view of the pool/lake, and that's what they gave us- 4th floor, second to the last room down the long, long hallway.

This is what we saw from the window in the hallway- the pool has water in it, and the pumps were on, but there were still workers around:

The building I've been wondering about turns out to be the restroom building:

You can see the Shoe Tree from here, which I thought was cool:

The tall chain link fences are all down, but there were signs posted on the sidewalk asking guests to please keep out:

I reckon that the guests in these rooms had to stay on their patios:

The DVC topiary was in its regular place:

This is the view from the back door from the DVC lobby that exits to the pool.  Looks like they have plenty of new trash cans:

All that was keeping me from the pool were those little signs on the sidewalk:

The level of activity was high.  There were workers still working at 4:22 pm:

The new pool is fenced in, and there are Magicband scanners at the gates, along with signage stating that Magicbands must be scanned for access:

The use of Magicband scanners is significant.  They don't have Magicband scanners at the Fort pools, or at the main Lodge pool. They obviously are going to carefully restrict access to this pool.

All of the new landscaping is nice. Not as nice as the trees that used to be here, but it's still nice:

There is a towel return sign on the side of this building.  I'm guessing that all of the pool equipment is in there as well as some laundry facilities for the pool towels and maybe the DVC linens:

It killed me that the gate to the pool was open, but there were too many construction workers and management types roaming around for me to make a run for it:

Since I was an actual guest this time, I used my Magicband to go into the gym. Boy, this is a really nice facility for a hotel gym:

In case you're wondering what the view was like from our room, here's a look to the east- they have a new BBQ pavilion down there next to a new sports court:

And that road you see beyond that is the road that the buses use to travel between the Fort and the Lodge.

Here's the view looking the other way, toward the pool. The preserved swampy area is nice, and so are the bridges they built to cross them.  But, I'm not sure keeping all that swamp so close to guest rooms is a great idea.  Also, as expected, the view from the old DVC rooms is now predominantly a look at the roofs of the cabins which form almost a solid wall visually along the lakeshore:

I also wonder why that new path is so wide- it's like a roadway more than a path.  For our brief visit, it was a roadway, as all types of trucks and construction equipment zipped back and forth on it.

That's all the photos I have of the Lodge from Tuesday.  After this, we headed to Disney Springs where we enjoyed cocktails at Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar, and then went next door to THE BOATHOUSE for dinner.  It was my first time visiting both places, but it ended up being much better than I expected.  The Boathouse has reduced the prices on its menu and has introduced more diverse dining options.  It ended up being a fun evening.

I have a bunch more photos from Wednesday morning which I will share in a separate post.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This next batch of photos was taken on Wednesday morning, June 21.

Also known as the first day of summer!

This was how things looked outside at 7:06 am.  I thought I was ahead of the workers and could get down there for some up close and personal photos:

Nope.

I see some orange vests down there.

Dang:

I assume that it's only temporary because Roaring Forks is closed down and it's a long hike to Geyser Point from here, but they had free coffee dispensers set up in the Villas lobby.  I grabbed a cup and relaxed in the railroad room off to the side of the lobby:

I wanted a good photo of the train car with the number 749 on it.  This is from Walt Disney's backyard Carolwood Pacific Railway:

This is a model of the Lilly Belle.  Named after Walt's wife, and I believe still in operation at Disneyland:

I was looking for car numbers here too.  This one is number 723:

This little sign tells us this is a model of the Lilly Belle:

This car has number 173 on it:

And the locomotive itself has the number 173 there on the smokestack:

This photo show Walt riding around on his backyard railroad. Some of those cars might be the ones here on display:

Now we are outside. Last night, when no one was around, we walked down the stairs next to our room, and walked down the wide path to this point.  But it was too dark for photos then.

Those trash cans we saw yesterday were still sitting there:

That mystery building is still a mystery to me, but I do think it is just for equipment and maintenance/housekeeping use:

There was some kind of tag with a ribbon on this tree.  I'm not sure why:

I saw a guy in the orange vest across the pool.  You can see him to the right of center right next to the cabana wall:

Since there were workers swarming around outside, I skipped trying to get photos of the pool.  Maybe I would get a chance later.

I went back in and hung out in the lobby for a bit longer:

Then I brought some coffee up to Mrs. TCD.  This was a short trip, and we knew that we'd have to get up and go this morning, so we sat outside on the balcony and enjoyed our coffee:

It's nice that you can kind of see the lake from up here now.  But, it's not nice that you're basically looking at the cabins and the cabin amenities:

Since the construction is still technically going on, we got the free pins they've been passing out for the last year and a half:

There were trucks zipping up and down the pathway below our balcony:

Some of us headed down to temporary breakfast they had set-up in the Territory Lounge.  It was a nice option, but we miss Roaring Forks.

Then, we packed up and had a bellman come and get our stuff.

We headed back down, as it was past 11 now, and some of the gang was skipping breakfast and going straight to lunch.

Look, the pool gate is open!:

But there were workers around:

Roaring Forks was still shut down, but all of the construction walls for the project they were doing outside were down:

This covered area outside of Roaring Forks is new.  They were bringing new furniture out here and setting it up this morning:

This sign is new. Silver Creek is gone.  It's now Copper Creek:

The butterfly plants are beautiful:

I have great new for those of you who noticed that the Buffalo topiaries that used to be in front of the resort were missing.  They have been relocated to the area next to the new Geyser Point bar:

More people will see them here.

And that's not all that's new.

We've all seen photos of one of the old rail cars that they set up as a prop back here.

Well, here's the second one:

Note the rolled up chain link fence. They had just taken it down.

And, here's a close-up of the rail car. Note that it has number 173 on it.  Just like the Lilly Belle.  That's not a coincidence:

We had lunch at Geyser Point.

The bird problem is greatly diminished, but there were a few still around harassing the guests.  Of course, it doesn't help matters when idiot guests feed the birds scraps from their plates:

Also note in that last photo that they have brand new tables and chairs set up in the seating area right along the lake in place of the hand-me-down pool furniture which was originally there.

I tried the crabcake sandwich.  Which is more expensive than the bison burger. Get the bison burger:

This sign still directs guests to the Silver Creek Pool.  I guess they'll fix that soon:

One more shot of the buffaloes:

I've got a few more photos.

But, I'll end this update here and then post one more update.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This is the last batch of photos I have from Wednesday.

And, it may be the last batch of photos showing any construction.

According to our bellman, they are planning to have guests stay in the cabins this weekend.  They will be DVC CM's who are going to stay in the rooms to give the staff a trial run at providing services to the cabins, and to give the DVC sales team personal experiences to share with customers.

Here we are on the Copper Creek overlook:

There's a guy moving furniture into the new covered area outside of Roaring Forks:

You can see the new tables and chairs set up under there. This will be a nice option for guests using the main pool, but Geyser Point is also just a short walk away:

A view of the old pool from the overlook:

Copper Creek is pretty nice for a fake creek:

And, I like the fake rocks that they built around the stairs leading down from the overlook:

Here's another look at the new covered area:

There are still no Magicband readers at the main pool.  But note the umbrella and standing mat.  They sometimes do have CM's out here with mobile Magicband readers to keep out the riff raff:

The old bar is partially behind construction walls.  They are making this into a beauty parlor of all things:

Geyser Point looks great here.  And, I meant to comment about sitting out there for lunch.  We had lunch there on both days of our trip, and it was rather pleasant with the breeze coming in off the lake:

It was weird that they took down the construction fences when they sill had work going on.  Seemed a bit unsafe, but they were clearly scrambling to get things done:

There was a fence blocking this path on Tuesday, but today it was open.  We walked down the path to use the gym restroom showers after our afternoon pool session:

This is the rail car that has been here for a few months already:

The path to the cabins now has a nice archway over it:

The archway above the pool entrance welcomes us to the Boulder Ridge Cove:

This area with the fake railroad tracks leading up from the dock turned out nice. The boat and bike rental building on the right is still not being used, but I'll bet it won't be long:

You can see both of the rail cars in this shot. Number 749 is on the right:

You can see the number in this shot:

Here's another look at the new pool entrance.  Note that the existing colors of the original villas building does not match up with the computer generated photo we looked at a while back:

There's the path to the cabins:

And this is the last shot I took as we headed down the path to the locker room:

The bottom line is that this all turned out great, and it will be really nice for the lucky Copper Creek Villas DVC members.

But, it's not so great for the rest of us.

TCD

[kadancer 82]

Thanks for the wonderful photos.  I am looking forward to checking out the Wilderness Lodge this summer.  Wish they would do something this great for the "rest of us."

[lightbikes 73]

Thanks for the pictures TCD - they really show how the "look" around the Lodge has been changed.  Not sure how I feel about that.

Just a thought but maybe the tree got a ribbon beause it's going to be the last one standing!!!

[dvccamper 32]

Thanks for the pictures, they're great. I think they've done a really nice job and now I can't wait for our trip there at the end of the year. Nice to see the topiaries have returned as well. It's those details that have always made me love the Wilderness Lodge.