Thanks. You make good point to. You said the reasons I originally booked CL. Decisions, decisions
Have you made a decision yet?
I totally agree with KOOK!
Let me grab a spoon and stir the pot as well... I also agree with KOOK.
You are hereby inducted as official members of the CL Pot, errrr, Cobbler Stirrers Club.
So excited for our next WL stay! We're doing something new this trip and have a pre-opening ADR at MK. If the park opens at 9, what time will the boat to MK start running? I know busses start fairly early, but we never tried to take an early boat.
Thanks!
For those who don't know, there is an early ADR bus schedule
HERE on the first page along with other information on the buses and boats.
If anyone is interested in specific monorail and bus schedule information for CR, I have that
HERE on the first page of the CR/BLT thread.
Love love love the thread.
We just booked (well changed) our Dec 22-29 reservations to Wilderness Lodge Club Level. Can not wait and after going over this thread I am even more excited.
Thanks for the tipping tips, but what about Club Level turn down? This is part of the reservation and I was thinking I would do $1 a bed and $3 for the lodge keepers each day (3 of us traveling).This is 2 separate envelopes labeled correctly, right?
Also would love the answer about Boat and busses for pre-opening ADR's
I am guessing with Club Level I can consult the IPO on these q's right?
Thanks
Welcome! I covered turn-down tipping in a post here on Friday. Again, tipping is optional as well as envelopes, but $1 per bed is what I have left in the past, but as I posted Friday, we usually decline turn-down if we're in the room or if we're not and have left a tip, it has been left at turn-down.
Since you brought up the IPO, I should mention that in general, the IPOs have been less and less helpful over the years. Many report that often the IPOs are suggesting that guests look up information/answers for themselves and they are often not directly answering guest's questions prior to arrival. They either defer to another source for answers or don't completely answer some questions. This can vary IPO to IPO so there is no harm in asking them questions or asking for help, that's what they are there for and that's in part what you are paying for! But, I have noticed this happening more and more lately. There is a Concierge/CL thread in the Resorts forum that has been discussing this unfortunate change.
And only 22 more until
JD
Excuse my ignorance, but where did you get these? They are very clever!
Two days until we are HOME!
Sent from my iPad using DISBoards
You're almost home! I hope you'll be able to check-in with us soon.
We have 10 days left! Tomorrow we can do our single digit dance!
I'm so excited for you and DD!
we will be honeymooning at the WL this coming september - 29 days away - and it's our first stay at the lodge.
what are your *FAVORITE* must-do things while staying at the wilderness lodge?
i'm so excited! can't believe we'll be there in under a month!
I love going over to FW and eating at TE and wandering around looking at the ponies and horses in the stable. DD and I always go over to "River Country" which is near the beach and MBYB. We love taking a peek through the fence. Have you been horseback riding at WDW? If you're an experienced rider then the Disney ride is very lame, but it's still fun to ride through the FW woods and do something "off the beaten path" at WDW.
This would be such a great resort for a honeymoon.
One of my favorite things to do at the WL is to go to the Hidden Springs pool by the villas. It has these really cool bubbling springs coming up from the bottom and it feels so relaxing to float in the bubbling water. There is a huge hot tub over there, lots of shade, and no loud pool party music.
One of the things we didn't get to do last time, but definitely will do when we are there in December is to go to the Territory Lounge for cheese fondue or whatever appetizer looks good, along with some berry cobbler. Yum.
And a nice, romantic thing I saw was couples sitting in the hot tub watching the geyser go off and looking out at Bay Lake. There are two hot tubs by the main pool and hopefully the little kids will stay out of the "romantic" one.
I love those "bubbles," too and it is nice and quiet over at VWL so that's a great suggestion.
We were finally going to go to TL this trip and we missed it again. We are definitely going in December, too. Does anyone know if a 15-year-old would be permitted in there or do they card? DD thought the appetizers sounded yummy. We did get a tour while on the Lodge Tour and it is beautiful in there! I'll post some photos after I get them all uploaded to Photobucket. BTW, if you have Tables in Wonderland, TL is included in the 20% off!
This maybe silly but I simply love it when we come back to the Lodge late at night (or very early morning
) and no one is around. It is so serenely quiet. You feel like you are the only ones there. We usually stop in the grand lobby and just soak it in.
I also love walking down the hallway to our room. The Lodge has such a wonderful scent.
P.S. - I love your photo!!
Not silly! I love wandering around early morning (I'm not a night owl). But, I found that wandering outside is pretty pointless because I ended up encountering armadillo in the dark and not being able to see the unlit path without a flashlight. We both surprised each other.
There's been some questions about transportation lately. I'd like to add a reminder to allow plenty of time to get wherever you need to go. Last night we had an ADR for 'Ohana at 5:05. We left our room a little after 4PM and didn't get there until 5:30. I could have swam faster! The buses have been incredibly frustrating. We had to wait well over 35 minutes for the MK bus to arrive. (I would have taken the boat but it was raining - plus so many people remark on the quickness of the bus) Then once everyone got on an ECV pulled up at the last minute taking another 5+ minutes to load. Boats weren't running to the Poly (storm?) so we had to wait for the monorail which took another 15 minutes once we were on it. Long waits seem to be the standard this trip. We went to AK this morning and waited over 40 minutes for a bus - and there were people waiting for a while when we walked up to the bus stop. This experience has really made me consider downgrading somewhere else in the trip budget and getting a rental car.
On the plus side, the WL staff have been wonderful as always. OFC CM are just awesome!
I'm glad you posted this because this was our experience a couple of weeks ago, too. The bus ride to every park, except the MK was very long because the bus stopped first at FW and by that point was very crowded or SRO. I felt sorry for the FW passengers. The AK bus would then go to a water park. We decided that as "un-Disney" as it feels, we would go back to driving to AK and DHS. We also seemed to have 10 days of terrible timing. We aren't RD folks, but we seemed to have to wait about 25-35 minutes, on average, for every bus, including MK. Our timing was much better from the park to WL, but we always waited a long time from WL to the parks and the ECVs and their families do add at least another 5 minutes to the wait to board the bus. So it's best to take this all into consideration in planning your day so you won't be late or feel as rushed.
Just wanted to add: in July we stayed at Poly and had dinner at Artist Point. We took the boat over , but after dinner it was raining so we took a cab back. It was just under $5.00 !!! In case if bad weather, keep that in mind instead of fighting the busses.
Good suggestion
The hot tubs are my DD8's favorite, she says it relaxes her after a hard day at the parks.
That's too cute! Maybe you should sign her up for a little massage at Sturdy Branches
Wow, the taxi was only five dollars! Even a cheapskate like me would pay that price.
When I see kids in a hot tub, all I can think about is urine
That thought isn't necessarily limited to the hot tub, just sayin'
doin' the Single Digit Dance 
