Time of year

[Terry B]

Considering everything like weather, crowds, hours and gay day(week), is the first week of June 2003 a good time to visit the World ? Also trying to decide on Riverside or Wilderness Lodge with daughters ages 7 and newcomers (wife's parents). Any help is always appreciated............

 

[maryj11]

We have stayed at Riverside and Wilderness Lodge. Both are very nice, both are beautiful. If I had to pick between the two I'am not sure which I would go with. I love the pool area at Wilderness Lodge and the themeing is extra special. Riverside has such beautiful landscaping and is a peaceful place, the pool area is also great for kids. Both resorts have water slides. I like the pool at Wilderness Lodge a little better because of the stream that flows into it from the Lobby very pretty. I think that for a moderate Riverside is just as nice as Wilderness Lodge. The only thing that would be the down fall for Riverside is that it is spread out and there is more walking involved.

 

[Aunt K]

We stayed at WDW the first week of June in 2000. I will say it was crowded (sometimes very crowded) but also very do-able and enjoyable. There were a few nights when they kept the parks open until midnight, so you sure had plenty of time to be in the parks. The ELP ran every night we were there and we found that we could do a lot of rides easily during the parade times. We used fast pass religiously, and overall had a very good time. Make sure you make priority seating reservations early. We were able to eat everywhere we wanted, including the royal breakfast!, but I was up at 7am on the phone every day it was exactly 60-days out making our reservations (this got really old fast). The bus service from PO-french quarter was timely and efficient. Weather was very hot, we were eating ice cream by 10am just about every day. Just be prepared and take breaks when it gets too bad.
As far as gay week goes that was a non-issue for us. I'm sure there are gay people at WDW every week in the year anyway.

 

[JulesMom]

We love the first week on June and plan on going at the same time next year!

Just avoid MK on the Saturday during gay week--but we always avoid MK on Saturday

Are you going to get 2 rooms or all stay in the same room?
Is money an issue?

I like PO-R, but I LOVE WL! The atmosphere is amazing!

 

[Tesabat]

Can't help with first week of June as I've never been there at that time....us NYers still have school in session!

However, I've stayed at both POR and WL. POR was nice, but WL is wonderful. If you can afford WL and you are bringing along parents for a first-time visit and you really want to wow them, then WL is the way to go (IMHO). Anyone walking into that lobby for the first time is usually pretty wowed by the place.

Just speaking from a practical resort comparison, POR, like all moderates, is built with outside corridors - motel style. You open your window drapes to enjoy the view, then you have to realize everyone else is going to enjoy the view of you!

WL is hotel style - inside corridors with nice balconies for enjoying that morning cup of coffee, or a relaxing drink in the evening.

POR has double beds, WL has queen beds. WL is a smaller resort - not so spread out. Even from the farthest room, the food court, pool, etc., never seems that far away. At POR, there's a bit of a walk depending on room location. WL has the boat to MK, POR has the boat to DD. We thought the MK boat was of more benefit. WL has a bus to the TTC (right around the corner) from which you can walk to the Poly or go just about anywhere you want to go.

Overall, we enjoyed the theming and ambiance at WL much, more more than at POR. And, we thought the CM's at WL were just super. My son was sick one day and the CM's were unbelievably nice - gave him a Tigger so he could "bounce" back on his feet in no time, the chef from Artist Point called him to see how he was doing. Really super experience. So - I'm a huge WL fan - can you tell??

But, leaving the warm fuzzies aside, if you can afford to stay deluxe, just for the larger beds, inside corridors, level of service, and the balconies, that's the way to go.