Wilderness Lodge Mess

[FidFam]

Long time lurker, this unfortunate mess made me register to post...

Now that's odd....

I was just on the phone for an hour with CS - the closure is still happening no matter what is/isn't on the website so our trip in September is now up in the air for our resort. They offered up Saratoga Springs, Boardwalk and Animal Kingdom Lodge as replacements for less money. Also offered up Beach Club for a bit more. The lady on the phone said they've been dealing with a lot of disappointed folks over the last week - we're still evaluating our options. This would have been our first trip to WL so we were very excited, but with two kids (3+1) the on-site pool is a must for some down-time from the parks.

 

[disney meema]

Long time lurker, this unfortunate mess made me register to post... I was just on the phone for an hour with CS - the closure is still happening no matter what is/isn't on the website so our trip in September is now up in the air for our resort. They offered up Saratoga Springs, Boardwalk and Animal Kingdom Lodge as replacements for less money. Also offered up Beach Club for a bit more. The lady on the phone said they've been dealing with a lot of disappointed folks over the last week - we're still evaluating our options. This would have been our first trip to WL so we were very excited, but with two kids (3+1) the on-site pool is a must for some down-time from the parks.

I'd switch with the kiddos you have and their ages. We switched to AKL CL it's our first adult only trip so it was a good offer for us and not having to take kids on the bus has made it ok for us. With kids I'm not sure if want to stay at AKL unless they love love animals since it's really a beautiful resort but just because of having to take a bus to each park with kiddos may or may not work for you?
Of those offered to you I would think boardwalk or beach club for a bit more would be best. Still buses to some parks yet the boardwalk and beach club have boats as well so that's a plus to Epcot or DHS. The beach club pool is incredible and closer to Epcot so that may be a better choice if you can swing it.

 

[FidFam]

I'd switch with the kiddos you have and their ages. We switched to AKL CL it's our first adult only trip so it was a good offer for us and not having to take kids on the bus has made it ok for us. With kids I'm not sure if want to stay at AKL unless they love love animals since it's really a beautiful resort but just because of having to take a bus to each park with kiddos may or may not work for you?

We are definitely switching, we want the first trip to WL to be *magical* with all the amenities fully offered including the main pool. We'll just do it again another year, we go once a year so we'll get there eventually...

Of those offered to you I would think boardwalk or beach club for a bit more would be best. Still buses to some parks yet the boardwalk and beach club have boats as well so that's a plus to Epcot or DHS. The beach club pool is incredible and closer to Epcot so that may be a better choice if you can swing it.

In the past we've always stayed at CS/AOA so the buses don't phase us too much to be totally honest, we were just excited to try something new and close to the MK with the WL so it's a bit of a downer.

BC is being offered to us at the price we were paying for WL before the Fall Special pricing came out and we saved a few hundred bucks - so that's probably what we'll do and I'm hoping they'll work with me on pricing.

 

[spritna]

yeah we jumped ship as well, i'll just stay there some other time..fyi.. on the other wilderness thread there is report the lodge will be mailing out another letter sayn u get a one day adm. to one of the water parks.

 

[FidFam]

yeah we jumped ship as well, i'll just stay there some other time...

From my conversation with CS it sounds like a LOT of folks are jumping ship.

I've seen a lot of folks moving to POR - and I've heard nothing but rave reviews about it from a few friends who've stayed there recently - so maybe we should consider swapping out for that this time to just try something new and stay well within the budget for our brief 4day/3night stay. I assume it's a good place to stay with a 1 and 3-year old?

 

[DonnaDuck333]

For me switching to another resort since finding out about the pool construction has been a mess for me personally. We've never stayed at WL so when we picked the resort we were looking forward to the stay in every possible way, now I've changed my mind about where we will be staying several times and I'm sure disney travel is sick of me. I guess since we wanted to try something new by staying at WL and have stayed at the other deluxe resorts except AKL I'm just feeling let down.
In the end we are booked at AKL for 10 nights at CL as our something new ... Yet I don't have that oh I can't wait super excited feeling. I'm sure it's going to be very nice to stay on the wild side of disney world yet I feel like I'm going to be staying in Tim Buck Too and away from everything lol. We booked grand Floridian for 3 nights In a RP CL room for the end of our trip following AKL so hoping with both resorts we leave feeling like it was a something new and something loved trip.
Overall it costs us more money to switch resorts which always factors in, yet I certainly wouldn't want to have kept our courtyard view of construction for 14 days ... I guess no good time for a refurbishment and sad for everyone effected. Already planning to stay at WL next year : )

I felt the same way about Animal kingdom,( EHHHH) picked it last year for my daughter... Guess what, IT"s my favorite resort now. The atmosphere transport your mind to mystery and adventures of Africa especially at night. Awesome restaurants at your resort; Victoria bar and lounge, which was beautiful and well themed. The whole club level staff was the best we had stayed, and did I mention mimosa through out the day are served there, just ask... The sunrise safari, was fantastic and the private buffet was delicious and done to make you feel special... I love that resort and that was the biggest surprise of the trip... Have a ball

 

[jess1662]

We don't swim that much, so we're staying at WL and enjoying the extra discount

 

[FidFam]

What's the "beach area" like? Is it swim'able to use in conjunction with the quiet pool?

 

[Marlyn]

What's the "beach area" like? Is it swim'able to use in conjunction with the quiet pool?

Swimming is NOT recommended in the lake!!!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

What's the "beach area" like? Is it swim'able to use in conjunction with the quiet pool?

Swimming in the lake is not allowed.

 

[FidFam]

Swimming is NOT recommended in the lake!!!

Swimming in the lake is not allowed.

Duly noted

I'm thinking more and more we try just the Beach Club. Being able to walk to Epcot and HS is pretty excellent - even if we will spend more time at the MK. Now I just gotta talk to someone in CS about giving us a *reduced* rate for our trouble moving from WL on such short notice

 

[disney meema]

I felt the same way about Animal kingdom,( EHHHH) picked it last year for my daughter... Guess what, IT"s my favorite resort now. The atmosphere transport your mind to mystery and adventures of Africa especially at night. Awesome restaurants at your resort; Victoria bar and lounge, which was beautiful and well themed. The whole club level staff was the best we had stayed, and did I mention mimosa through out the day are served there, just ask... The sunrise safari, was fantastic and the private buffet was delicious and done to make you feel special... I love that resort and that was the biggest surprise of the trip... Have a ball

Thank you for your reply and it made me feel better for sure. Well actually you made me get excited for our trip and glad to read your CL experience was so wonderful ... We are also doing the sunrise safari as well and glad to read the breakfast was delicious. Thank you for your glowing review today it gave me a pick me up : )

 

[raven0855]

Does anyone have the # from the letter?? I threw ours out when I was so aggravated and didnt even want to deal with it.


TIA!!!

 

[jess1662]

It's 877-282-9282

 

[mamabellefortwo]

For those that got disney to help cover part of the rate change, did you have free dining? We were told that because of FD, we couldn't get a rate discount but that was in the context of staying at WL and it was also not in response to the letter/number mentioned above. Thanks!

 

[MaggiesMomNJ]

We don't swim that much, so we're staying at WL and enjoying the extra discount

What extra discount?

 

[DisneyDiana]

Thank you for your reply and it made me feel better for sure. Well actually you made me get excited for our trip and glad to read your CL experience was so wonderful ... We are also doing the sunrise safari as well and glad to read the breakfast was delicious. Thank you for your glowing review today it gave me a pick me up : )

I never thought I would love Animal Kingdom Lodge but decided to do a split stay between AKL and Poly because my son loves animals, especially zebras. Well, I absolutely loved AKL, I felt like I was on an exotic, luxury vacation. We were actually disappointed once we got to Poly. We'd stayed at Poly in the past and built it up so much it didn't live up to our expectations. We loved AKL so much we are now DVC members and ANimal Kingdom is our "home" resort.

 

[raven0855]

It's 877-282-9282

Thank you!!

 

[MOdisneymom]

Anyone who has switched resorts to a more expensive one.....where you able to get a good rate or will you be eligible for a discount when Room Only discounts come out? WL is my DH dream resort that we've been planning to take our DD's to for years. This whole construction mess has him in such a mood that he's no longer excited for this trip Swimming is important for this family, so we must switch resorts and just go to WL another trip.

 

[Figments Father]

We were given a $500.00 discount after calling the number on the paper mailed to us. We didn't have the FD option, but we did have the room discount option. We were also offered an upgrade to the Grand Floridian and they would cover half the cost of the upgrade but opted for the 500 instead.