TinkPirateMom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2011
Sorry I have been MIA. We returned home from WDW on Monday night and I'm still doing laundry!
Well, we absolutely LOVED Wilderness Lodge!!!! So much so that I think it will be difficult for us to ever go back to Disney and stay somewhere else. I honestly do not have any complaints.
We booked a Woods View Bunk Bed room for the 4 of us (DH, myself, DD16, DS3). We arrived on Saturday (11/3) just before 11am for our 8 night stay. We had completed online check-in. There was only 1 person ahead of us in line. Check-in was pretty quick and painless. We were pixie-dusted! Not only did they have a room ready for us, but they upgraded us to a Courtyard View Bunk Bed room! We had a beautiful view of the pool and lake. We were on the 6th floor, room 6049. It had a regular balcony and was just to the side of the Bear Face on the same side as Roaring Forks. We loved our room! We did bring a lot of stuff and had a stroller so once we had everything in there I could see how some feel the room is small but honestly before our stuff was in there I was actually pleasantly surprised with the size of the room. We kept the stroller open right under the Mickey hooks on the wall. Once we unpacked we put our luggage back in our van to save space in the room and I had two pop up hampers in the bottom of our closet for dirty clothes.
The room was clean. The beds were comfortable. My daughter was on the top bunk. She is 16 years old and about 5'3-5'4. She was perfectly fine and slept well, but I would say anybody over 5'5 would be too big for the bunks. I called mousekeeping for extra hangers and bed rails. They brought them up right away. My 3 year old slept well on the bottom bunk with the bed rails on.
I loved the tub/shower! The curved rod does really make it feel roomy. The shower head was better than mine at home! I just loved the tiles with Chip, Dale, Bambi, and Meeko! There were plenty of towels throughout our stay. Double sinks outside of the shower/toilet room came in very handy. I brought 2 baskets and a toothbrush holder to keep all of our toiletries in order which helped. 1 basket fit on the lower shelves on each side of the vanity. The provided hair dryer worked just fine.
We brought out own Keurig personal brewer from home which worked well. We plugged it in and kept it right above the fridge. We filled it with bottled water. The fridge was great and kept everything cold. We stuffed the 2 drawers above the fridge with snacks so that area was like our mini kitchenette.
My son loved riding the elevators and they were really quick! We never waited for one and almost always had the elevator to ourselves. That brings me to the WL transportation. I was slightly skeptical but we had our own vehicle in case transportation wasn't up to par. That was not necessary at all. We had terrific luck with the transportation. We never waited more than 10 minutes. We rarely shared with other resorts except for on the way to DHS and AK. We never had to stand as there were always seats available. The boat was a great way to get around too. My son loved riding the boats. It really helped having the boats that go to CR and FW. It made getting over there for ADR's a breeze!
Resort Activities:
We took full advantage of everything WL had to offer! We had a non-park day in the middle of our stay. We rented surreys at my daughter's request (something we used to do at the Jersey shore when she was little). We rode on the trail over to FW and back. It was a nice little 30 minute activity. Then we rented a boat (whaler) from the marina. The marina guys there were helpful and gave instructions to my husband, the driver. We rode all around Bay Lake which was very fun albeit a little chilly that particular day.
My 3.5 year old son attended Cubs' Den one evening. He really enjoyed it. He wasn't begging to go back but he had a good time, met some friends, made a few crafts and had dinner. I had taken him earlier during the day when it was open for craft time so he could check it out and meet the staff. Everyone was very friendly. We could have kept him with us the whole time but having kids so far apart in age sometimes makes things interesting. This was a nice way for us to spend some time with our daughter without worrying about the little one. She really appreciated the brother free time!
I was soooo sad to leave and I really cannot wait to go back. I don't know when we will be able to make a return trip but I'm sure we will all want to stay at WL again when we do. When my husband uploads and edits his pics I will post some here.
Thank you to Kook and all of the lodgers that helped me plan this trip and settle on WL. This thread was beyond helpful!
Well, we absolutely LOVED Wilderness Lodge!!!! So much so that I think it will be difficult for us to ever go back to Disney and stay somewhere else. I honestly do not have any complaints.
We booked a Woods View Bunk Bed room for the 4 of us (DH, myself, DD16, DS3). We arrived on Saturday (11/3) just before 11am for our 8 night stay. We had completed online check-in. There was only 1 person ahead of us in line. Check-in was pretty quick and painless. We were pixie-dusted! Not only did they have a room ready for us, but they upgraded us to a Courtyard View Bunk Bed room! We had a beautiful view of the pool and lake. We were on the 6th floor, room 6049. It had a regular balcony and was just to the side of the Bear Face on the same side as Roaring Forks. We loved our room! We did bring a lot of stuff and had a stroller so once we had everything in there I could see how some feel the room is small but honestly before our stuff was in there I was actually pleasantly surprised with the size of the room. We kept the stroller open right under the Mickey hooks on the wall. Once we unpacked we put our luggage back in our van to save space in the room and I had two pop up hampers in the bottom of our closet for dirty clothes.
The room was clean. The beds were comfortable. My daughter was on the top bunk. She is 16 years old and about 5'3-5'4. She was perfectly fine and slept well, but I would say anybody over 5'5 would be too big for the bunks. I called mousekeeping for extra hangers and bed rails. They brought them up right away. My 3 year old slept well on the bottom bunk with the bed rails on.
I loved the tub/shower! The curved rod does really make it feel roomy. The shower head was better than mine at home! I just loved the tiles with Chip, Dale, Bambi, and Meeko! There were plenty of towels throughout our stay. Double sinks outside of the shower/toilet room came in very handy. I brought 2 baskets and a toothbrush holder to keep all of our toiletries in order which helped. 1 basket fit on the lower shelves on each side of the vanity. The provided hair dryer worked just fine.
We brought out own Keurig personal brewer from home which worked well. We plugged it in and kept it right above the fridge. We filled it with bottled water. The fridge was great and kept everything cold. We stuffed the 2 drawers above the fridge with snacks so that area was like our mini kitchenette.
My son loved riding the elevators and they were really quick! We never waited for one and almost always had the elevator to ourselves. That brings me to the WL transportation. I was slightly skeptical but we had our own vehicle in case transportation wasn't up to par. That was not necessary at all. We had terrific luck with the transportation. We never waited more than 10 minutes. We rarely shared with other resorts except for on the way to DHS and AK. We never had to stand as there were always seats available. The boat was a great way to get around too. My son loved riding the boats. It really helped having the boats that go to CR and FW. It made getting over there for ADR's a breeze!
Resort Activities:
We took full advantage of everything WL had to offer! We had a non-park day in the middle of our stay. We rented surreys at my daughter's request (something we used to do at the Jersey shore when she was little). We rode on the trail over to FW and back. It was a nice little 30 minute activity. Then we rented a boat (whaler) from the marina. The marina guys there were helpful and gave instructions to my husband, the driver. We rode all around Bay Lake which was very fun albeit a little chilly that particular day.
My 3.5 year old son attended Cubs' Den one evening. He really enjoyed it. He wasn't begging to go back but he had a good time, met some friends, made a few crafts and had dinner. I had taken him earlier during the day when it was open for craft time so he could check it out and meet the staff. Everyone was very friendly. We could have kept him with us the whole time but having kids so far apart in age sometimes makes things interesting. This was a nice way for us to spend some time with our daughter without worrying about the little one. She really appreciated the brother free time!
I was soooo sad to leave and I really cannot wait to go back. I don't know when we will be able to make a return trip but I'm sure we will all want to stay at WL again when we do. When my husband uploads and edits his pics I will post some here.
Thank you to Kook and all of the lodgers that helped me plan this trip and settle on WL. This thread was beyond helpful!