Wilderness Lodge Transportation?

[Uno Mas]

I just saw the AP discounts for January and the WL is really cheap. We always stay at an Epcot resort because Epcot is where we spend most of our time, but I've always wanted to try WL. It would just be a different trip. How difficult is transportation? Is the boat always packed to the MK and is there a long wait? And how are the busses going to DHS and AK, and then coming back from Epcot at night? If you take the monorail back from Epcot, how late does the boat run back to WL? Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

[Poppins2000]

The Wilderness Lodge is our FAVORITE!! You will so love this resort! DH and I are also going for 9 days in Jan - staying the at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. We have stayed all over WDW property and in my opinion, WL has the best bus service. We have never waited more that 10 minutes for a bus there and have never had a problem getting back. Keep in mind, we do travel in off-season and January is off-season, so I don't anticpate that we will have any trouble.

Never had any issue on the boats either, although it may be a little nippy on the lake in January if you are in one of the open Tugboat transports instead of an enclosed boat.

 

[helenk]

I just saw the AP discounts for January and the WL is really cheap. We always stay at an Epcot resort because Epcot is where we spend most of our time, but I've always wanted to try WL. It would just be a different trip. How difficult is transportation? Is the boat always packed to the MK and is there a long wait? And how are the busses going to DHS and AK, and then coming back from Epcot at night? If you take the monorail back from Epcot, how late does the boat run back to WL? Any info is greatly appreciated!

The Wilderness Lodge is a great resort. We stayed there in Sept and had no problems with the transportation. the WL does share buses at times with Fort Wilderness and for one of the parks I think we shared with the GF. We liked taking the boat to the MK, but the weather was beautiful/ The boats really did not get too crowded, they had 2 sizes of boats, I am guessing that during busier times they used the larger boat, so that really helped.
The first time I stayed at the WL, years ago, there was no bus to the MK only the boat, this was in December and coming back at night was cold. So I suspect January will be chilly in the early am and at night.
Taking the monorail from Epcot would not be the best idea. You take the Epcot monorail to the TTC, get off at the TTC and then get on another monorail to get over to the MK. Depending on what time you leave Epcot, if the MK closes early that night, you may find it tough to get over to the WL. You'd do just as well to take the WL bus from Epcot

 

[tinkbyday]

WL is an awesome resort. We stayed there during our spring break trip this year. You mentioned that you usually stay in the Epcot area - we prefer that area as well.

I have to say that it did make a difference as far as what parks we went to. We found we spend much more time in MK than the others simply because it was so close.

The boats were great - no problems - we waited a couple of times for buses and they did share with FW, but it wasn't a big deal. Getting to Epcot on the monorail (via the boat ride to MK) was a nice option too, but it was less hassle to take the bus, honestly.

We are staying at YC this upcoming trip, but I would definitely stay here again.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

The few times my family and I stayed at the Wilderness Lodge we did not find anything wrong with their buses expect for the ones that go to Downtown Disney, however those seem to be a problem with all the Magic Kingdom Resorts. Anyway for the buses that go to and from the parks we had no problems with them, so when it comes to the Epcot bus taking that will always be faster then getting on the Monorail and etc.

 

[Uno Mas]

Thanks for all of your help. I am looking forward to trying something new - it's just so hard to part from the Beach Club when the rates there are so good too with this offer! But we need to broaden our horizons!

 

[disneyfan55]

Thanks for all of your help. I am looking forward to trying something new - it's just so hard to part from the Beach Club when the rates there are so good too with this offer! But we need to broaden our horizons!

I'm sure you will love the resort. It is my favorite as well. The rates are great but we just can't chance driving in the winter from NJ due to weather possiblilties. Have a great time there. All is true about how great the resort is!!

 

[gmi3804]

Thanks for all of your help. I am looking forward to trying something new - it's just so hard to part from the Beach Club when the rates there are so good too with this offer! But we need to broaden our horizons!

Funny, I'm an MK Resorts "snob" much in the way you're an Epcot Resorts "snob." I'll bet we'd have just as great a time at the other area's resorts, we're just set in our ways. Enjoy your great rate and the fantastic resort at WL!

 

[SandrainNC]

We were there in June, but didn't use the buses. We did go to MK by boat one day. Going was fine (it was around 3:00 pm) but coming back after Wishes took forever. January might not be as bad though. And the resort is great!


Sandra

 

[gmi3804]

We were there in June, but didn't use the buses. We did go to MK by boat one day. Going was fine (it was around 3:00 pm) but coming back after Wishes took forever. January might not be as bad though. And the resort is great!


Sandra

Deleted.

 

[AbbyPan]

We love the WL!

Just one question though: we've never tried taking the boat anywhere else other than the MK from WL. Does the boat also stop at the Contemporary?

I'm sure I knew this once, but I completely forgot! Thanks!

 

[Piglets Mommy]

There are 2 different Boat Routes...Blue Flag and Red Flag....One (I think Blue, but don't hold me to that) goes Directly to MK and the other goes to CR and Ft. Wilderness. Check out the first few pages of the WL thread...it lays out this info in detail.

 

[AbbyPan]

awesome, thank you!

 

[Endeavour105]

There are 2 different Boat Routes...Blue Flag and Red Flag....One (I think Blue, but don't hold me to that) goes Directly to MK and the other goes to CR and Ft. Wilderness. Check out the first few pages of the WL thread...it lays out this info in detail.

Incorrect.

Two Blue flag motor launches serve the CR, WL and FWC on Bay Lake.

Two boats serve the WL/ MK route - each flies a Red flag on the bow of the boat - 1 motor launch and 1 motor cruiser.

For complete info and related details on WDW Watercraft ops on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, see the following:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1646456

 

[#1MMFan]

The WL bus stop from Epcot is number 5 which is the closest one to the park - so that's another great reason just to use the bus back from Epcot!!

I'll be in WL in 2 days (all being well!)!!! heheheh

 

[MatterhornMiss]

I really enjoyed the WL (well, VWL to be exact). The only transportation problem we encountered was the night trying to get to the GF for 1900 Park Fare. We allowed ourselves 35 minutes to take the boat to the MK then change to the boat to the GF. It took 50 minutes. I think that night was EMH for MK and all the other parks were closing, so all the boats were crowded and we had to wait for a couple of boats to come. Even being 15-20 minutes late for the ADR, they still let us in, which I am very greatful for.

 

[Endeavour105]

I really enjoyed the WL (well, VWL to be exact). The only transportation problem we encountered was the night trying to get to the GF for 1900 Park Fare. We allowed ourselves 35 minutes to take the boat to the MK then change to the boat to the GF. It took 50 minutes. I think that night was EMH for MK and all the other parks were closing, so all the boats were crowded and we had to wait for a couple of boats to come. Even being 15-20 minutes late for the ADR, they still let us in, which I am very greatful for.

The problem was that you didn't allow enough time to get to your destination for exactly the situation(s) you encountered..

It is generally accepted that one needs to allow at least 1 hour to get to one's destination when using WDW Transportaion....obviously more time is needed during peak demand periods like park closings, etc.

 

[MatterhornMiss]

The problem was that you didn't allow enough time to get to your destination for exactly the situation(s) you encountered..

It is generally accepted that one needs to allow at least 1 hour to get to one's destination when using WDW Transportaion....obviously more time is needed during peak demand periods like park closings, etc.

We didn't know the other parks were closing and everyone was heading to MK. Our experience of riding the boats between both GF and MK and WL and MK had us believe we had allowed more than enough time.

 

[tigger_03]

We were there in June, but didn't use the buses. We did go to MK by boat one day. Going was fine (it was around 3:00 pm) but coming back after Wishes took forever. January might not be as bad though. And the resort is great!


Sandra

We had the same problem with the boats coming back from MK after Wishes in late August. We did have to wait almost an hour for the buses coming back from DHS and AK. So the next time we went to those parks we drove. Much easier.

The resort is absolutely wonderful!! We'll most likely stay there again when we go back.