(CLOSED) Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS INFORMATION THREAD ~2014~

[WDWKOOK]

Good morning ya'll.

Thanks!! Perfect!!

You're welcome.

 

[Sandy321]

WL CL

I don't know what went wrong this morning, but the website wouldn't let me book anything, they were "currently down" so I called, nope, I'd go through all the hoops, no yes, 1, dining reservations, Dining with an Imagineer - "let me get you a reservationist" then silence - call ended!

seriously I couldn't believe it - what is happening? Luckily when I pulled up my WL email for CL, there was a phone number, I called, and I got a real live person first try! AND he made my reservations for me! and he also said he did Dining with an imagineer for his birthday, but he had to stalk the reservation list for 2 months, but he got one for his birthday!

In 180 days from today - we will be at the most special place!

 

[WDWKOOK]

WL CL

I don't know what went wrong this morning, but the website wouldn't let me book anything, they were "currently down" so I called, nope, I'd go through all the hoops, no yes, 1, dining reservations, Dining with an Imagineer - "let me get you a reservationist" then silence - call ended!

seriously I couldn't believe it - what is happening? Luckily when I pulled up my WL email for CL, there was a phone number, I called, and I got a real live person first try! AND he made my reservations for me! and he also said he did Dining with an imagineer for his birthday, but he had to stalk the reservation list for 2 months, but he got one for his birthday!

In 180 days from today - we will be at the most special place!

Welcome to the thread and congratulations on booking the Old Faithful Club. It's great that the IPO could help you and now you're all set. BTW, the real live person is actually at the Poly so sometimes you might get an aloha! instead of a howdy!

 

[Sandy321]

Welcome to the thread and congratulations on booking the Old Faithful Club. It's great that the IPO could help you and now you're all set. BTW, the real live person is actually at the Poly so sometimes you might get an aloha! instead of a howdy!

That's good to know! There's too much to know! It was just so great that I called one number and someone answered, his first question was my reservation number, so that started all the wheels rolling... I was just so impressed after getting in that loop of hang ups, and knowing everyone must save money by cutting corners - and there's a lot of people that are at Disney Resorts the same time we're going....

So one less thing off the list! When I get stressed, I love looking at pictures of the Lodge! It does bring a smile to my face!

 

[sug78]

Don't know how to post a photo but the times guide for the holidays is:
Holiday performers: dec 18,21,22 6:30 & 7:30 pm
Disney characters: dec 20,21,22 4:30-8:15 pm
Dec 24 & 251:30 arts and crafts
2:30 pool deck party
3:30 what's in your stocking
4:00 pass the parcel
4:30 dance party (dec 24)
4:30 games (dec 25)
Dec 24:5-9 meet Santa claus
Dec 25:
5:30 marshmallow roasting at the beach
7 pm movie Disneys A Christmas Carol
Dec 31: cast recycled art contest @ roaring fork

 

[coolbrook]

Thank you so much for posting the holiday schedule. I didn't know they did those things. We will try to see the performers and meet Santa and meet the characters.

 

[2girlsR2good]

Driving down 95 on our way! One night in the road and we'll check into the Lodge tomorrow morning!

 

[bluecastle]

Bumping with a photo. Hope everyone who is there is loving the decorations, and those of us who are not there...photos and shared love of the lodge!

 

[KBoopaloo]

I stayed at the WL for the first time from 12/13 to 12/17. It has always been a dream of mine to stay at the Lodge around the holidays and I was not disappointed.

We had a first floor room with a view of the path that separates the Lodge from the Villas. The first floor balcony/patio felt huge in comparison to upper floor balconies I've had at other resorts.

Our room (1142, I think) was clean and in great shape.

The walls on the beach were coming down on 12/17, our checkout day. The pool looked to be open the whole time we were there but we never used it - it was too chilly for swimming for us.

All the CMs we encountered were wonderful and we had no issues with bus or boat service.

We had a nice surprise on our first night when a local choir was scheduled to perform in the lobby - it was a great way to kick off our trip.

My only disappointment was our lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We ordered the skillet and it didn't come with any pulled pork. When we finally flagged our server down, he said they had just run out of pulled pork - it would have been nice if he had mentioned it before dumping our skillet and running. We also didn't get any extra of anything else to replace the pulled pork at first. We did ask for more chicken and potatoes later as there wasn't enough on the first platter for all 4 of us to eat with a whole protein missing. I understand that places run out of certain items and am not upset about that but it would have been nice if it had been acknowledged and replaced with something else without us having to call attention to it ourselves.

We also never got any cornbread but I honestly didn't realize that until after we left and I don't even know if they serve cornbread anymore. The WCC has always been a favorite of mine though I haven't eaten there in a few years so I was really looking forward to this lunch but it was a bit of a bust. The service overall was poor - I wasn't looking for any funny antics as we were a group of adults, but our server barely paid us any attention at all, nevermind all of the goofy stuff you often see at the WCC. We did have some good appetizers in the Territory Lounge one of our other nights and the service there was great.

 

[blackmamba10000]

I stayed at the WL for the first time from 12/13 to 12/17. It has always been a dream of mine to stay at the Lodge around the holidays and I was not disappointed.

We had a first floor room with a view of the path that separates the Lodge from the Villas. The first floor balcony/patio felt huge in comparison to upper floor balconies I've had at other resorts.

Our room (1142, I think) was clean and in great shape.

The walls on the beach were coming down on 12/17, our checkout day. The pool looked to be open the whole time we were there but we never used it - it was too chilly for swimming for us.

All the CMs we encountered were wonderful and we had no issues with bus or boat service.

We had a nice surprise on our first night when a local choir was scheduled to perform in the lobby - it was a great way to kick off our trip.

My only disappointment was our lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe. We ordered the skillet and it didn't come with any pulled pork. When we finally flagged our server down, he said they had just run out of pulled pork - it would have been nice if he had mentioned it before dumping our skillet and running. We also didn't get any extra of anything else to replace the pulled pork at first. We did ask for more chicken and potatoes later as there wasn't enough on the first platter for all 4 of us to eat with a whole protein missing. I understand that places run out of certain items and am not upset about that but it would have been nice if it had been acknowledged and replaced with something else without us having to call attention to it ourselves.

We also never got any cornbread but I honestly didn't realize that until after we left and I don't even know if they serve cornbread anymore. The WCC has always been a favorite of mine though I haven't eaten there in a few years so I was really looking forward to this lunch but it was a bit of a bust. The service overall was poor - I wasn't looking for any funny antics as we were a group of adults, but our server barely paid us any attention at all, nevermind all of the goofy stuff you often see at the WCC. We did have some good appetizers in the Territory Lounge one of our other nights and the service there was great.

We are headed there in 31 more days! What apps did you have at the
Territory lounge? And sorry Whispering Canyon Cafe was a bust. I've been going back and forth with whether or not to cancel our reservation there.

 

[trishadono]

Bumping with a photo. Hope everyone who is there is loving the decorations, and those of us who are not there...photos and shared love of the lodge!

Love it!

 

[KBoopaloo]

We are headed there in 31 more days! What apps did you have at the
Territory lounge? And sorry Whispering Canyon Cafe was a bust. I've been going back and forth with whether or not to cancel our reservation there.

We had pulled pork nachos, the BLT flatbread and the truffle fries. The truffle flies at the Crew's Cup lounge at the Yacht Club are better but these were still good and they give you A LOT. But the flatbread was delicious and the nachos were good too.

I'd probably give the WCC another chance - any place can have an off day and I think our experience had more to do with a sort of lousy server more than anything else. The food we did get was still good. Not great, but good.

 

[bluecastle]

We had pulled pork nachos, the BLT flatbread and the truffle fries. The truffle flies at the Crew's Cup lounge at the Yacht Club are better but these were still good and they give you A LOT.

Please don't edit this typo! It made me laugh and laughter at this busy time of the year is healthy. The truffle flies at midnight.

 

[SnowChaser]

How late might we expect the holiday decorations to stay up? We're hoping to drop in the first full week of January (Jan 5 or later) and would love to see them.

 

[trishadono]

How late might we expect the holiday decorations to stay up? We're hoping to drop in the first full week of January (Jan 5 or later) and would love to see them.

Most resorts come down just after the first. Sorry, I think they will be gone by then. At our trip last year Poly/cr and Gf were down 3-4th (Friday and Saturday).

 

[Sara1Babe]

I was wondering if there is anything I can purchase that will recreate the incredible smell that welcomes you to WL?

Of all the things I miss about Disney/WL that scent is pretty near the top of my list.

 

[bluecastle]

I was wondering if there is anything I can purchase that will recreate the incredible smell that welcomes you to WL?

Of all the things I miss about Disney/WL that scent is pretty near the top of my list.

There is a "smells" thread on the DIS, but I don't know if they have one listed for the lodge.
I bought a Yankee candle called Mountain Lodge, hoping it would remind me of the WL, but it's only a part of the smell. I think I would have to find something with a mesquite/smoke flavoring smell too.
Hope someone else can help!

 

[bluecastle]

For those who celebrate: Happy Christmas Eve!

 

[rileyroosmom]

I have a candle by Simply Home called Christmas pine. I think it smells very much like the Lodge

 

[Divaofdisney]

Hello everyone, and for all those here, Merry Christmas!! We are now here in Pensacola to spend the holiday with my daughter, Sarah. We had an absolutely grand time at Disney for the past week and made some memories that will last us a lifetime- despite the fact I picked up a terrible cold and that I have been sick as a dog the last few days. I am really hoping this sickness leaves so I can enjoy the last few days I have till I start work again next week.

The WL was absolutely beautiful and we loved our stay!! Our room was 3028, and 3026- which faced the otter pond and we were able to see wishes each night outside our balcony-it was perfect location, close to elevator and short walk to lobby. We were also right near the Roaring fork which was perfect in the mornings to grab coffee and muffin on our way to parks- we were also close to boat docks- which we utilized quite a bit. The weather also was lovely mostly sun except for the last day which turned cloudy and rainy.

We enjoyed our time in the parks- I missed the AK due to being sick but this was the only day I missed. We had the deluxe dining plan for the 1st time, and while it is a good value it was just WAY too much food for us and we left with many unused credits- which is a real shame. Next time, we will just opt for the regular dining plan which is perfect for our family.

And the perfect ending to the trip was that my daughter Sarah's boyfriend proposed to her on last night in front of the MK- photo pass was there but she sent them away thinking he was just kidding but he was not at all and when he pulled out the ring she knew it was real and cried!! It was always her dream to get a Disney proposal but it sort of didn't end the way she hoped. Still it was pretty neat and I am so happy for both of them- they have been dating since 2010 so it is well time for this to happen.

Thanks to everyone here for all the great tips and advice- the pool and hot tubs we did use and enjoyed them immensely. We would love to stay here again but not at Christmas- we were fine till Sunday then the crowds were insane we have been at Christmas now the last 2 times so I would love to go back during the Spring and garden festival or at another low crowd time. Lastly, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!!!