Wilderness Lodge ?

[Randi R.]

We will be in WDW in August - 2 young children ( ages 4 & 8 ) and we are older parents ! We have stayed at the Contemporary before and loved the convenience of the monorail but not so impressed with the hotel.

Rooms seem small at the WL - anyone care to comment ?

How fast are the boats and the buses to the parks ?

Any other suggestions to stay with our 2 daughters to make it fun yet easy to get to and from the parks ? It must be a deluxeresort as we are on a Platinum Plan with Walt Disney Resorts.

Thanks !

Randi

 

[mickeycw]

The rooms are a little smaller but if you request a room with bunk beds you'll be okay. They provide railings for the top bunk. My 4 year old niece loved being on the top bunk and we had no problems with her up there!

The transportation was fine! Boats to the MK, CR or FW and buses everywhere else. We never waited more than 10-15 minutes for a bus to anywhere!

Michelle

 

[chaoscent]

Randy - I can't comment on the speed of the boats but I developed a condensed fact sheet (7 pages) and another comparison sheet (3 pages) which I would be glad to email to you. I compared the moderates, the contemporary and the WL. My mom is taking my brother, his 5 children and my DH & I to WDW in novemeber. She asked me to research where we should stay. as she has bad eyes she asked me to gather all the information and condense it. Which I did. My preference by the time I was done was to stay at the PO FQ if there were no codes for November and the WL if either an annual pass or Disney Visa Code came out. I gave her all the information (reams of paper), she asked me the pros and cons in my opinion and she decided on the WL without reading anything. LOL I could have saved a couple of trees, but I really didn't want to spend her money like it was my own. Since I have spent so many hours developed these sheets, I would be glad to see someone get some use from them. In addition, I could send you a listing of the sites I used to gather information. A lot of the information came from the WL frequently asked questions thread on the Dis boards. BTW - the room size at the WL is 344 square feet.
email me at chaoscent@aol.com, put WL in the subject area and I will send them off to you.
Thanks to everyone on this board who posted so many wonderful tibits of information. It helped make my research easier.
Here's hoping my mom and brother like WL, otherwise I will hear about it through out our vacation.
Penny aka Chaos Cent

 

[VanHouten]

Originally posted by Randi R.
Rooms seem small at the WL - anyone care to comment ?

We've stayed the last two years at WL. Once with a 5 and a 1-year old and the next year with a 6 and 2-year old. We had the crib in the room both times and we never felt as if we were crowded. Maybe we just like being there and it didn't matter. But it was never an issue for us.

How fast are the boats and the buses to the parks ?

The WL is pretty close to MK. The boat takes 10-15 minutes or so to get there. It is such a nice ride that you don't mind how long it takes. We loved taking the boat over to MK.

Unfortunatly, the boat doesn't go to any other parks so you have to rely on busses (or take the boat to the monorail and then the monorail to Epcot which may take longer than the bus but will be more fun). We always have a rental car so we usually don't take the buses.

Any other suggestions to stay with our 2 daughters to make it fun yet easy to get to and from the parks ? It must be a deluxeresort as we are on a Platinum Plan with Walt Disney Resorts.

We are going to go the AKL this year for a couple of days just to try something different.

If you are concerned about getting to/from the parks, consider taking a car. You can park for free, you are never far from your room. You don't have to wait for busses.

 

[Grumpy92]

I think you will enjoy WL. The theming is outstanding and hits you the moment you step in the door. The rooms are a bit small, but I agree on the buck bed suggestion. The pool will mesmerize you children as will the geyser. The boats are pretty good coming about 10-15 mins. Never had a problem with the buses never waiting more then 10 mins for one.

Roaring Forks is a pretty good counter service location for all meals. We love the refillable mugs and usually grab brkst there and bring it back to the room where we can enjoy it on the balcony. If you have not been to WC, I would suggest a PS as your mousekeeters will love the antics that occur there.

You will have a great time.

 

[lindajo]

You guys sound like us! We are older parents, too. We visited WL last year and loved it. We didn't notice the size of the room being much different than POFQ, but maybe it is psychological-you are paying a lot more for the room, so it should be noticably larger.? DS3 and DS5 (at the time) loved it, they keep asking when we can go back to the "log hotel".(Answer, when mommy can get the same incredibly low rate she got last year!) Anyway, GH(Grumpy husband) loved it although he will never admit it. (he loves the mountains-Northwest-Montanta, so it was right up his alley) Your kids will go ga-ga over the pool area, with the 2 hot tubs, huge main pool, large kiddie pool, cool slide, and geyser! There is a nice beach to play in the sand. We loved the boat service to MK, it was better than a bus, and not as crowded. Nice boat ride, too. We missed eating at WC, I think we may hop on over this next trip to see what all the commotion is about! Have a great trip-you are gonna love it!

 

[xmatt0926x]

stay at the WL!!!! It has great theming, the boat to magic kingdom takes only a few minutes and its very relaxing. Also, you can take the boat to Fort Wilderness and eat at the best buffet there is. I just think WL is great for adults and kids. You and the kids will be in awe when you step into the lobby. Your only dissapointment may be in knowing that you could have stayed at the WL all this time instead of the time you spent not enjoying the Contemporary! If your going to pay the money for a deluxe, shouldnt you at least be somewhat impressed with the resort? You will be at the WL and its much cheaper too. Good luck.