(CLOSED) Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS INFORMATION THREAD ~2013~

[DoctorWhoGirl]

Summer's been busy and I haven't been on DISboards for a while... I was just looking at my ressies for our upcoming trip and realized we are in the double digits now!! I booked 11 months out so it's so exciting to see that the trip is almost here!

 

[RebelSoul]

WL is our favorite resort! Booked WL CL 3 nights from 5/2 - 5/5/2014. This will be in between our BWI CL stay (4/29 - 5/2) and our AKV (5/5 - 5/11) stay. This will be our first time staying CL @ WL. We are celebrating DH's bday and are excited to be spending 13 glorious days at WDW sans kids. The kiddos will be joining us this November at WDW for 8 days, so they can't complain too much. Hoping to get a north wing even numbered room.

 

[ocalla]

There is a lot of information on the first page, thanks to Kook, , and the menus are in this post:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=48394553&postcount=9

There are photos of the room service menu, but it is hard to read.

Here is a link to the menu on AllEars:

http://allears.net/menu/men_wlir.htm

You can take minors into the Territory Lounge.

Thank you so much for reminding me of the page one info!!! I'm so used to staying at BC (and not needing info) that I forget to look there!!!

Very glad that DD can also be in the lounge, we may head straight there since we arrive later than usual on check-in day!!

 

[TheLodgeLady]

Does anyone know if I ordered room service if I would be able to order the mushroom soup and cobbler from artist point? Thanks!

Hello,

My husband and I have ordered off the Artist Point menu several times for Room Service. In fact, we ordered off the AP and the room service menu together one evening. The only thing was that I think we had two separate bills.

We have also order whole bottles of wine from the AP menu for room service and also in Territory Lounge.

Hope this helps.

 

[luv2sleep]

Hello,

My husband and I have ordered off the Artist Point menu several times for Room Service. In fact, we ordered off the AP and the room service menu together one evening. The only thing was that I think we had two separate bills.

We have also order whole bottles of wine from the AP menu for room service and also in Territory Lounge.

Hope this helps.

That's great! Is the menu in the room or do you have to stop by and pick one up?

 

[The real Mrs Potts]

10 wopping days till we leave for Orlando! When do you usually start packing?

 

[DLgal]

We just stayed at WL for 4 nights last week.

We had connecting rooms 6016 and 6018. Great woods view rooms with full fireworks views! We could also see the castle from 6016 (but not 6018). 6016 is a bunk bed room. We were upgraded from the 2Q woods view rooms we booked to a bunk bed room at no charge. It worked out great for our kids and those bunk mattresses are SUPER comfy! I was pleasantly surprised by that. Our room was in a great location and was clean and well serviced daily.

Transportation was pretty godawful, to be honest. I have never had stellar transportation at the WL, so it wasn't unexpected, but after this stay, I think we are done staying there. It was just so frustrating to have to wait and wait and wait for the boats and buses. Particularly maddening was trying to get back to WL via boat after the fireworks. We were among the first out of the park since we watched from town square, but all the boats coming from the resorts were held up by the ferries that kept crossing. There were 3 ferries in use, and the smaller boats have to yield to the ferry, which I understand, but the ferries were CONSTANTLY either pulling in, pulling out, or crossing. We waited a full 40 min before the first boat showed up going to WL. We were on that first boat, but it was a full HOUR between leaving the park and being back in our room. That is unreasonable, IMO. Buses were slow to come and the stops at FW and GF were just riduculous. I'm over it. Back to the Epcot resorts next time for us!

Territory Lounge was a nice space, but our service there was lackluster. We ordered the cheese fondue and the onion soup, plus a couple beers. The waitress was fairly miserable, and to be frank, the cheese fondue was disgusting. It was overly powdery in texture (due to the cheddar cheese, I assume), and the bread was stale. Luckily, it was "free" since we paid for it with Disney Rewards points, but we were disappointed overall.

We did have a refrigerator in our room, and it was new and worked very well. HOWEVER, it was loud. Like, as loud as the refrigerator in my kitchen. I spent the first day trying to figure out what the noise in our room was from, and incorrectly attributed it to the A/C unit until I realized it was the fridge. On the other hand, the cabinet was not hot at all, and the fridge worked very well, but the trade off is a VERY loud unit. It just hums along all day and night.

Also, the pool slide has some sort of massive duct tape bandaid on the rockwork just above the slide entrance. It looks really, really tacky. It's a section about 1 ft x 2ft long of just overlapping strips of black tape. On the one hand, I am happy that the slide was open during our stay, but on the other hand, it shouldn't remain open looking like THAT! It really should be fixed a.s.a.p.

Roaring Fork has really good food, but they really need to do something to speed up the service in the grill area. I don't understand why they don't premake some stuff during the dining rush hours. EVERY burger, pizza, chicken sandwich, etc is made to order and it takes a LONG time. Even the fries and nuggets are only thrown in the fryer when someone places an order. It's so odd. They should continuously have a batch of nuggets and fries ready to go. And, seriously, they should just eliminate those kids nuggets since they have the other kind. Just make the kids meal 4 of those instead. Twice we ordered kids' nuggets meal for my son and had to wait over 5 min for kids nuggets to fry up when there were regular nuggets in the pan ready to go. So stupid. On the other hand, service in there was very good and we found the quality of the food in there to be excellent (particularly the roast beef sandwich and the flatbreads).

 

[GrandCalifornian]

10 wopping days till we leave for Orlando! When do you usually start packing?

We start putting stuff aside as soon as we know we're going on another trip. The real packing starts though once we get the suitcases out and don't have any other trips before WDW. For us that's now, at 17 days. We'll start packing whatever we aren't going to need before we go. I bet we finish most of our packing the weekend before we leave, so all we have to do those last three days of "work" is wait for it to be time to go to Disney.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We just stayed at WL for 4 nights last week.

We had connecting rooms 6016 and 6018. Great woods view rooms with full fireworks views! We could also see the castle from 6016 (but not 6018). 6016 is a bunk bed room. We were upgraded from the 2Q woods view rooms we booked to a bunk bed room at no charge. It worked out great for our kids and those bunk mattresses are SUPER comfy! I was pleasantly surprised by that. Our room was in a great location and was clean and well serviced daily.

Transportation was pretty godawful, to be honest. I have never had stellar transportation at the WL, so it wasn't unexpected, but after this stay, I think we are done staying there. It was just so frustrating to have to wait and wait and wait for the boats and buses. Particularly maddening was trying to get back to WL via boat after the fireworks. We were among the first out of the park since we watched from town square, but all the boats coming from the resorts were held up by the ferries that kept crossing. There were 3 ferries in use, and the smaller boats have to yield to the ferry, which I understand, but the ferries were CONSTANTLY either pulling in, pulling out, or crossing. We waited a full 40 min before the first boat showed up going to WL. We were on that first boat, but it was a full HOUR between leaving the park and being back in our room. That is unreasonable, IMO. Buses were slow to come and the stops at FW and GF were just riduculous. I'm over it. Back to the Epcot resorts next time for us!

Territory Lounge was a nice space, but our service there was lackluster. We ordered the cheese fondue and the onion soup, plus a couple beers. The waitress was fairly miserable, and to be frank, the cheese fondue was disgusting. It was overly powdery in texture (due to the cheddar cheese, I assume), and the bread was stale. Luckily, it was "free" since we paid for it with Disney Rewards points, but we were disappointed overall.

We did have a refrigerator in our room, and it was new and worked very well. HOWEVER, it was loud. Like, as loud as the refrigerator in my kitchen. I spent the first day trying to figure out what the noise in our room was from, and incorrectly attributed it to the A/C unit until I realized it was the fridge. On the other hand, the cabinet was not hot at all, and the fridge worked very well, but the trade off is a VERY loud unit. It just hums along all day and night.

Also, the pool slide has some sort of massive duct tape bandaid on the rockwork just above the slide entrance. It looks really, really tacky. It's a section about 1 ft x 2ft long of just overlapping strips of black tape. On the one hand, I am happy that the slide was open during our stay, but on the other hand, it shouldn't remain open looking like THAT! It really should be fixed a.s.a.p.

Roaring Fork has really good food, but they really need to do something to speed up the service in the grill area. I don't understand why they don't premake some stuff during the dining rush hours. EVERY burger, pizza, chicken sandwich, etc is made to order and it takes a LONG time. Even the fries and nuggets are only thrown in the fryer when someone places an order. It's so odd. They should continuously have a batch of nuggets and fries ready to go. And, seriously, they should just eliminate those kids nuggets since they have the other kind. Just make the kids meal 4 of those instead. Twice we ordered kids' nuggets meal for my son and had to wait over 5 min for kids nuggets to fry up when there were regular nuggets in the pan ready to go. So stupid. On the other hand, service in there was very good and we found the quality of the food in there to be excellent (particularly the roast beef sandwich and the flatbreads).

Sounds like you had some highs and lows. Thanks for reporting. We are sure hoping the transportation situation is better with lower crowds in a few weeks. I'm glad the food quality at Roaring Fork was still great, as we are looking forward to that since it was a highlight for us last year as well. The rooms and views sound great, I'm glad you enjoyed the upgrade.

The big variable in transportation seems to be the wait for the bus or boat to arrive. Once it does the times are within an expected range, but it sure seems that waiting that long to even start the trip somewhere would get old.

 

[ocalla]

I never understand Disney bus sharing at Deluxe resorts. You would think they would have their own transportation.

Nothing irritates me more that getting on the bus at BC (after it has filled up at YC), then stopping at Boardwalk and Swan/Dolphin to attempt getting to DTD!

I too am hoping that our Mardi Gras visit is less of a problem than the summer months are.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I never understand Disney bus sharing at Deluxe resorts. You would think they would have their own transportation.

Nothing irritates me more that getting on the bus at BC (after it has filled up at YC), then stopping at Boardwalk and Swan/Dolphin to attempt getting to DTD!

I too am hoping that our Mardi Gras visit is less of a problem than the summer months are.

It's really not that bad with some of the MK Deluxe resorts sharing, they are hardly ever full. But, I do know what you mean about the BW, YC, BC, Swan, and Dolphin, those are crazy.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Magic cookie hour???
I must have an answer to that question

I will always remember the very first time we visited WL (2006ish). We took the boat over from MK one afternoon, walked into the lovely lobby, and a nice CM lady handed us delicious fresh baked cookies. Been aiming to stay at WL ever since, and finally getting around to it next month.

10 wopping days till we leave for Orlando! When do you usually start packing?

This sounds crazy, but we don't pack until the night before we leave. We have been many times so we all pretty much know what to automatigically throw into the suitcases. Not much fretting and planning in terms of what to pack.

In honor of our upcoming WL stay I have purchased a new Tilley hat. I have found that they are about the best hats for hiking, playing, and vacationing outdoors. They keep me dry, cool, and sorta sporty-looking.

 

[WDWKOOK]

28 days from now I'll be on my flight to the World and my stay at WL. I've started tracking the same SW flight to see which side of the plane to sit on to see if I will be able to get a good look passing over WDW. Thank you Southwest for not having assigned seating.

That's so cute. I don't recall ever seeing WDW from the plane coming from the East Coast

Kook,

It is a Pebble Smartwatch. The countdown watchface was altered by a co-worker of mine. He changed the date and added the Mickey ears and Disney World text for me. The WL watchface I made with an online watchface generator.

The Pebble Smartwatch was a Kickstarter project last year and I backed it. You can now buy the watch from their website or Bestbuy in the US. It communicates with your iPhone or Android and shows your text messages, emails, caller ID, and much more on your watch. It also has pretty much unlimited watchfaces as you can have 8 loaded on the watch at a time and change it when you want. It's cool!

JD

Very interesting!

For Kook or anyone else that's been recently, is there by chance any new WL merchandise in the Mercantile?

I put off answering your question because I have been so very frustrated (again) with Photobucket. I do have a few photos of the WL merchandise that I took this month, but PB is not allowing me to edit and save them. I'm not going to give up though, I'll post when it's working again.

I must say that I am on other travels sites for various vacatons, but this thread about the Wilderness Lodge has to be the most active I have been on. Everytime I have the opportunity to visit, it has added yet another page.

Now we are in the planning phase for next July. So far away, but cannot wait to come home again to the Wilderness.
The first time we visited we had the opportunity to be a guest in the Yosemite Suite (won a little lottery money).
Now with College tuition we just want to come back.
Looking for a room with a view, does not have to be a suite,
Eagerly reading all the posts, and when I know something or need to ask I will be back.

Thanks ahead of time

Later

How great that you were able to experience the VP Suite! I have to agree with you that this thread has been moving very fast this month - lots of new Lodgers

A few days back Raya and WDWKOOK were discussing these rooms as well. Looking at the satellite image they pretty much just look out towards trees that are between the lodge and the boat dock. Boat horn noise might be a bit of an issue, and they would have the longest hallway walk, but they do seem like nice rooms. They exist on all six floors, and have two regular rooms between the deluxe rooms on the corners. The same rooms on the South wing have a better view, but are listed as Courtyard view.

I have a photo of the exterior of those rooms that Photobucket is not allowing me to save properly. I'll post it soon hopefully.

Our first stay at WL CL is in November and I am to trying figure out our view. We are booked standard with a queen bed and bunk beds. What view do we have? How far are the farthest rooms from the lounge? I am trying to figure out requests and don't want to be far from the lounge with a 2 year old. I heard north side woods view might give us a view of the castle? I would love that! Any CL room tips would be really appreciated! Thanks!

Welcome and congratulations on your upcoming stay! All CL bookings, except for the two suites and the 25 Deluxe rooms are called Standard. Standard refers to the room type and not the view. Also, you cannot book a CL bunk room. There are about 6-8 and you can request one, but it can't be guaranteed.

None of the CL rooms are very far from the lounge since the CL floor does not extend all the way down to Bay Lake as do the other 6 floors. The wing that is closest to the lounge is the South Wing.

There are 3 possible CL views that can be requested:

~Courtyard of WL or INNER Courtyard
~Courtyard of VWL
~Woods View

There are some North Wing Woods View rooms that have a castle view.

FYI, in the Dining Reviews there is a thread "Coming Live to you..." by jabead that had 4 current WL guests reporting. They are doing dining reviews of WL restaurants as well as others through out WDW. Lots of great food and pics, just go back a few days worth.

I'll have to go check that out. Thanks!

Hi!

My family and I will be staying at the WL in Oct, yay

This will be our 1st time, and I've booked a Courtyard View. I have no idea what to request room wise. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Welcome. I would request an INNER or WL view so that you'll have a view of the geyser, pool and Bay Lake. The other Courtyard view can be of the villas.

Dearest Most Wonderful WDWKOOK,
Thank-you SO MUCH for your guidelines (notice I use the term "guidelines"), on tipping, in response to my questions on Friday. I now feel so much better prepared. Sorry for the delay in responding to your response, but we were having a whole house contents tag sale last weekend, as we're planning on moving, so I'm trying to fit in moving from NY to Fla. while planning our Feb. WL trip(while also planning our F & W 5k in Nov, incl. an 11/10 dinner @AP).

DH & I will be driving up to WDW,so we will have our car to use when necessary. During the course of our weeks stay, we'll be dining in every park, including a KTTK Tour @8:30am,Crystal Palace, Boma and Trails End also @8:30am. Would it be to our advantage to drive to MK or AKL instead of taking a bus or boat, due to time constraints? I'm assuming we'll be walking to FW for our TE breakfast.......

You're very welcome. How exciting that you're moving to FL! You sold your entire house contents? WOW! Have you ever lived in FL before? Are you going to be FL Resident Annual Passholders?!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Thanks for saying this. After reading the Club level thread I was super disappointed that my message was so basic. I thought maybe it was because I mentioned I had booked my ADR's already due to a change in our reservation, but all it said was we look forward to working with you, if you have questions please let us know. I sent a new message with some very specific questions and requests for help doing some special things. I would hate to have paid for this upgrade and not get the service that should go with it.

They will often send form responses and/or welcomes. Since WL and Poly share an IPO, you'll often get messages with Aloha! And Howdy! All in the same email. It always makes me chuckle. Don't hesitate to call them if you want a more specific answer, that's what they're there for.

There is a lot of information on the first page, thanks to Kook, , and the menus are in this post:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=48394553&postcount=9

There are photos of the room service menu, but it is hard to read.

Here is a link to the menu on AllEars:

http://allears.net/menu/men_wlir.htm

You can take minors into the Territory Lounge.

Summer's been busy and I haven't been on DISboards for a while... I was just looking at my ressies for our upcoming trip and realized we are in the double digits now!! I booked 11 months out so it's so exciting to see that the trip is almost here!

Welcome back - glad your Tardis is working again

WL is our favorite resort! Booked WL CL 3 nights from 5/2 - 5/5/2014. This will be in between our BWI CL stay (4/29 - 5/2) and our AKV (5/5 - 5/11) stay. This will be our first time staying CL @ WL. We are celebrating DH's bday and are excited to be spending 13 glorious days at WDW sans kids. The kiddos will be joining us this November at WDW for 8 days, so they can't complain too much. Hoping to get a north wing even numbered room.

Congratulations and I'll add you to the Lodgers' Log. Do you also want to be added to the BoardWalk Bulletin? You're going to love the OFC!

That's great! Is the menu in the room or do you have to stop by and pick one up?

The menu is in the room and I have a copy of the new one that I will scan and post presently (should Photobucket cooperate).

 

[WDWKOOK]

WL/VWL PRIVATE DINING MENU 2013:













​

 

[luv2sleep]

Is that from Artist Point too?

Very helpful!

 

[goofy4prez]

I never understand Disney bus sharing at Deluxe resorts. You would think they would have their own transportation.

Nothing irritates me more that getting on the bus at BC (after it has filled up at YC), then stopping at Boardwalk and Swan/Dolphin to attempt getting to DTD!

I too am hoping that our Mardi Gras visit is less of a problem than the summer months are.

I'm with you on this. I stayed at the YC back in January 09 and the bus situation was unbelievable. The bus was completely packed with no room to even move an arm and it still would have to make it's rounds from the YC to the BC, BW, Swan/Dolphin. It was literally unsafe to be in one of those buses and waiting for the next one was out of the question because it would be the same way. I loved the YC but will not stay there again because of the buses.

 

[WDWKOOK]

CURRENT WL-THEMED MERCHANDISE

There is also some DVC-themed merchandise and key chains that are hard to see. Each visit, there seems to be less and less resort-specific merchandise at WL and/or the same shirts/nightgowns.








​

 

[WDWKOOK]

EXTERIOR OF WOODS VIEW ROOMS LOCATED BETWEEN THE DELUXE ROOMS AT THE END OF THE NORTH WING

​

 

[GrandCalifornian]

EXTERIOR OF WOODS VIEW ROOMS LOCATED BETWEEN THE DELUXE ROOMS AT THE END OF THE NORTH WING

Looks like you got some cooperation from PhotoBucket, even if it was a long fight. Thanks for posting the pics. We are looking forward to adding to our WL merchandise collection soon.