Wilderness -- Villas or Lodge?

[Norawk]

We're traveling to Disney World for the first time this March and are booked at the Wilderness Villas. Is it worth it, or should we stay at the Lodge? We have four adults (parents and grandparents) and two girls, ages 4 and 6. We want to be close to the Magic Kingdom. The Villa is a little pricey, but we can fit all six of us. Otherwise we'd have to get adjoining rooms at the Lodge. Trying to figure all of this out is overwhelming! Any insights are appreciated.

 

[disneydreamfan14]

How much of a price difference is the villa compared to a room in the lodge?

If staying in the same room is important to you and if the price difference isn't too much, then I'd stay in the villa. If it is a big price difference, I'm sure the grandparents wont mind a separate room

 

[dchronister]

We chose the villa because we need the room and its more homey. We also eat some of out meals in the room. If we really stretch our budget getting the villa, we will cook breakfast in the room and then only eat in the park once a day. On our last trip we just ate a quick breakfast of cereal or my DD12 cooked hotdogs every morning and some of us actually ate sandwiches. But we love the villa, and when we looked at two rooms compared to the price of a villa, there wasn't alot of $ difference, but we used a travel agent and maybe the time of year we went was a lower season or something. We also like have the furniture and can sit and relax instead of sitting on a bed or those little tables. I can never get comfortable in a hotel room. My husband travels every week for business and we bought an RV because of our dislike for hotel rooms. Enjoy your trip either way.

 

[merina888]

I'm assuming you booked direct through Disney. Not that this will help you now, but perhaps you should consider renting DVC points next time if you want a villa. I've heard good things about David's Vacation Rentals.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I would stick with the villa. They are more roomy and would allow your entire family to stay together. If you were to try and book 2 rooms at the Lodge - there is no guarantee they can connect them. You would only be able to make a request and hope for the best.

So I would stay with the villa! It would make things a lot easier for your family!!

 

[pepe of ohio]

No a fan of everyone in one room or villa.... We've done it, sometimes you just want to be away from everyone, including family....plus you have individual control of the AC, taking a nap or just lying down watching TV without everyone gawking at you,

Disney has been pretty good on the adjoining room, or wherever you call them, we've always been accommodated ... No worries, each group or family has their own space, room, AC and TV control.... Kitchen and laundry mean nothing to us.. We'll make sandwiches but not cooked meals and we don't do laundry on vacation..

 

[firstwdw]

We did two rooms at the Lodge -not the villas with the grandparents last spring It was SO NICE to have our own space and have a break from each other! We had two rooms next to each other and it worked out really well! The rooms at the lodge have been recently refurbished. Each room has a fridge and we did do breakfast and made some lunches in the room with no problems. I guess it would depend on the price difference.....but we really enjoyed not being with each other 100% of the time and we had considered a villa but ended up with adjoining rooms instead for the better.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We did two rooms at the Lodge -not the villas with the grandparents last spring It was SO NICE to have our own space and have a break from each other! We had two rooms next to each other and it worked out really well! The rooms at the lodge have been recently refurbished. Each room has a fridge and we did do breakfast and made some lunches in the room with no problems. I guess it would depend on the price difference.....but we really enjoyed not being with each other 100% of the time and we had considered a villa but ended up with adjoining rooms instead for the better.

We did a studio once in the villas... Though very nice, very quiet and real close to the bus depot, we missed the lodge ...

We're done 10+ stays at WL in the lodge, prefer north wing, otter pond area... Elevator 20feet from room, exits right by Roaring Fork and out to the pool and short walkway to boats ....we just prefer boat kvetching bus travel , like being close to RF for refills and enjoy the pool with all it's antics (over the villa quiet pool....plus the studio room was not all that updated...

2 rooms in the lodge is heavenly, grandchildren are close but not in your face close... Some back, leg resting super cold AC pleasure with a beverage but a room away from others!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We're traveling to Disney World for the first time this March and are booked at the Wilderness Villas. Is it worth it, or should we stay at the Lodge? We have four adults (parents and grandparents) and two girls, ages 4 and 6. We want to be close to the Magic Kingdom. The Villa is a little pricey, but we can fit all six of us. Otherwise we'd have to get adjoining rooms at the Lodge. Trying to figure all of this out is overwhelming! Any insights are appreciated.

If you have a one bedroom villa, then I would switch to two rooms in the lodge. You'll love having space that is separate from the grandparents. It will be a lot less stress for both sets of adults. Grandparents aren't usually used to having kids around anymore, so it can be stressful when they are in that situation again. I know, I'm a grandparent.

If you have a two bedroom villa, then keep it. A two bedroom villa is super awesome and you'll love having a full kitchen. It will save money on breakfast and snacks. And you can plan a real meal there. And babysitting is super convenient. The grandparents will be close enough to babysit sleeping kids and they will be able to relax, too. The last time we stayed in a two bedroom villa, at BCV, our grandchildren were 3 and 9 months. It was really easy for us to watch the kids while the parents had a little extra time alone. And the common area living room is great for play time.

 

[Robbi]

I'm with the others who say adjoining rooms at WL. You all will want your own space and downtime.
The villas are great but I don't like that you are not in the main building. When I stay at WL, I like walking through the lobby. It's why I will only stay in Jambo at AKV. Kidani is nice but I love the lobby. Just a personal quirk.

 

[grimley1968]

If you're saving money by having a villa versus 2 adjoining rooms in the regular hotel, I'd stick with that. About the only drawback I can think of for the villas is that you can't get a courtyard view room like you can in the hotel portion. We love that view, but will sacrifice it if $$$ is an issue. As for the lobby, you can walk over there anytime you like if you feel the villas are slightly distant from it, you still have access to the pool, boat ride, restaurants, buses, and everything else WL offers. I wouldn't think twice about it, unless it's significantly cheaper to have 2 adjoining rooms.

 

[letsgoreds]

Most of the villas (except BLT and Kidani) look old to me. They tend to refurbish the hotel rooms more frequently. If you would shop and eat in the villa, then 2br would be the way to go. NO WAY with 1br.

My kids also love the bunkbeds...love DVC, but another plus for the hotel.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We had a similar decision to make for our trip last September with four adults and one child. We found two Standard view lodge rooms to be cheaper than a Villa, and it worked out great for us.

We were able to get connecting rooms, and it worked out perfectly. It was nice to be able to open the doors and be together, but we all had more private space with them closed.

We would like to stay at the villas sometime, particularly if it were cheaper than a regular WL room (like by renting points), but we are very happy with the choice we made to get two standard rooms. We loved being in the main building at WL, and we ended up getting upgraded rooms to woods view that opened to the lobby, which were beautiful. Also the main WL just completed a refurb last Fall, so the rooms will be more recently refreshed than the villas.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Your party of six will not fit in a one bedroom villa. You'd need a two bedroom villa. In the two bedroom, there is a thermostat in the entrance and the second bedroom. The one in the entrance controls the master bedroom and the living room. There are three TV sets in our villa.

Right now we have four of us (we were supposed to have five or six) in a two bedroom villa at VWL and it is very nice.

The decor in our villa is beautiful. I could live here. And it is very quiet, too.