Back from Wilderness Lodge!

[SCDisneyFan]

Hey guys, we just returned from our 4 day stay at Wilderness Lodge (4/29-5/3), and it was wonderful! We arrived Wednesday night at about 7, so there was absolutely no wait to check in. Afterwards we ate at Whispering Canyon, and then went right to bed to get ready for a full day at the parks. We have been to the Wilderness Lodge a few times before usually during our anniversary, so it was really cool when we discovered that just by chance we ended up in the same room as our 2007 stay during our first anniversary. (yea I actually figured this out by reviewing detailed photos of the room from the 2007 trip... lol)

The parks were simply awesome again, and I'll be the first to admit that rope drop definately made a major difference in our case. On previous trips we would sleep later, and get to the parks hoping to use fastpasses throughout the day to avoid waits. This time, we literally walked on any ride we wanted for about the first hour & a half of the morning. During our first day at MK, we rode 17 attractions by 1pm, and left the park to head back to the pool. At HS, we rode Rockin Roller Coaster 5 times in a row, TSM, and TOT 3 times, all as fast as we could walk onto them. At the coaster, the fastpass guy at the exit even kept count of how many times we walked past him. All in all through using rope drop and fastpass at a normal but consistent pace, we rode 73 attractions/shows in 4 days. (yea I'm a detail oriented person, so I kept count).

Crowds were a little heavy at times, especially towards the weekend, but with fast pass and rope drop as stated before, it was like we didnt even really notice. The most annoying thing about the crowds were just moving through the parks in general at certain times. It was really a stress free trip, especially considering how freaked out we were about the May crowd estimates. We did have a little trouble with some of the groups of teenagers that were in the parks at this time. Several instances of line breaking, public makeout sessions from a group of spanish teens, and an instance where the operator actually had to halt Soarin because a teen was trying to be funny by yelling at the top of his lungs during the ENTIRE ride. (we did get a re-ride after that though) I think we were more annoyed by a simple lack of common courtesy that some people lack (flashing every 10 seconds on POTC, flashing and talking/laughing LOUDLY all the way through Small World).

All in all it was an awesome trip, so my advice to anyone worrying about crowd predictions in May is the same as what you hear on the boards all the time; get there early, utilize fastpass, and you will have a great time. If anyone has any other questions feel free to ask. I'm very detailed so I'll probably give you more answer than you wanted, lol.

 

[matt&jakesmom]

Glad to hear that you had a good time. We are staying for the 1st time at WL at the end of August. Any thoughts of "must due" to do at the resort is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[SCDisneyFan]

We find the atmosphere at WL to be amazing. If you like heavy theming, you will fall in love with this resort. As soon as you walk in the doors you will realize that photos just cant do the lobby justice. For meals, Whispering Canyon is fun, if you dont mind a louder, more interactive dining experience. I find Roaring Forks quick service to be very nice when compared to the waits/food quality I have experienced at other resorts. Artists Point is a really nice place to eat, although be prepared to pay accordingly (it is worth doing at least once). My advice would be to take some time outside of the parks to really discover the atmosphere of this resort. From its little nooks, to the waterfalls leading to the pool, to the wildlife all around the resort, this place has a lot to offer. We love the way it feels to come back from MK at night via the boat, and walk down the lantern lit dock/boardwalk on the path leading back to our room. The resort itself feels very contained, and comfortable.

 

[SCDisneyFan]

Oh I forgot to mention that we also had an instance on Thunder Mountain where another teen that was part of a group was sitting with a couple of girls behind us, and proceeded to scream the whole ride (again trying to be funny). I'm not talking about a "wow this ride is fun" scream, but a "I'm going to scream at the absolute top of my lungs and try to be as annoying as possible". My wife and I along with a mom and her little girl left the ride disgusted. One good thing about the troublsome groups was that they all wore colored hats or t-shirts, which made them easy to avoid for the most part. Not that all of the teens in the groups were bad at all, but the few instances we experienced from a couple were some of the worst Ive had to deal with at WDW (and I'm a pretty tolerant person). Did anyone else notice this who was there at this time?

 

[boettj]

Wilderness Lodge is my favorite. My first time in WDW was in 1997 for our honeymoon. At the top of the main hall is a set of stairs that leads to a room. That was the room we stayed in. It only had a view of the roof, but that could not spoil my short 5 days in the most wonderous place on earth.


Glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip despite a handful of teenagers. While at WDW in 1997, they had EMH's, and my DW and I were able to stay on Splash Mountain for 3 rides. We could have stayed longer, but we wanted to walk around more.

 

[Br'erBriere]

Hey, we will be staying at the WL for the first time in August. Any tips or anything? Whats a good room? View? How is the pool, transp?

 

[ty93850]

The WL is great. For your trip take time to walk around the diffrent floors of the lobby area. There are a lot of little nooks and couchs you can just sit and people watch or enjoy a book or plan the next day. Take time to sit on the main floor lobby and look around. There is a walking path to the camp grounds there are also bike you can rent and ride over aswell. I agree artist point is a very nice place to have a good quiet meal and relax after a day at the world. At the camp ground there is a place to roast marshmellos and watch disney movies with chip and dale each nite. On the lake out behind the WL you can watch a light parade on the lake each nite. Lots of neat thing at the lodge. Also try and time it to see the fake old faithful guiser.

 

[SCDisneyFan]

You know odly enough, every time weve been to WL, weve timed it just perfect enough to miss the gyser EVERY time. Weve even tried to stop and see it only to discover that its down at that time for maintinence. Oh well, I guess there is always You Tube

 

[boettj]

Ah the old faithful gyser. When we were there for our honeymoon, we went to the pool. No chairs to be had except two. They were a little wet, but I just dried them off. After about ten minutes I fell asleep, and my DW had gone for drinks. Next thing I know it's raining. Before I fell asleep there was no clouds in the sky, and there still was no clouds. The chairs were open as they were right in the path of the gyser's path.


Oh well, I was wearing a bathing suit.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Glad to hear you had a great time. We're staying at VWL for the first time at the end of August and I'm really looking forward to it. I love to read all about it! Do you have any pictures you can share with us? I'd love to see them!!

 

[WeCantWait]

We will also be at WL in the end of August. This is our first time staying there. Thanks for the report!

 

[Disney4nonah]

The parks were simply awesome again, and I'll be the first to admit that rope drop definately made a major difference in our case. On previous trips we would sleep later, and get to the parks hoping to use fastpasses throughout the day to avoid waits. This time, we literally walked on any ride we wanted for about the first hour & a half of the morning. During our first day at MK, we rode 17 attractions by 1pm, and left the park to head back to the pool. At HS, we rode Rockin Roller Coaster 5 times in a row, TSM, and TOT 3 times, all as fast as we could walk onto them. At the coaster, the fastpass guy at the exit even kept count of how many times we walked past him. All in all through using rope drop and fastpass at a normal but consistent pace, we rode 73 attractions/shows in 4 days. (yea I'm a detail oriented person, so I kept count).

Wow that's some detail, i'm sold on RD now! haha - it was the plan anyway but we have to get that extra time in! Thanks!!

Crowds were a little heavy at times, especially towards the weekend, but with fast pass and rope drop as stated before, it was like we didnt even really notice. The most annoying thing about the crowds were just moving through the parks in general at certain times. It was really a stress free trip, especially considering how freaked out we were about the May crowd estimates. We did have a little trouble with some of the groups of teenagers that were in the parks at this time. Several instances of line breaking, public makeout sessions from a group of spanish teens, and an instance where the operator actually had to halt Soarin because a teen was trying to be funny by yelling at the top of his lungs during the ENTIRE ride. (we did get a re-ride after that though) I think we were more annoyed by a simple lack of common courtesy that some people lack ).

How Rude! - I hate that....hopefully they got caught and/or kicked out of rides for the yelling/cutting...Glad you had a great time! 2 1/2 weeks for us, I can't wait.....

 

[tinkgurl]

I'm glad you had such a good time at WL. We've stayed at the villas several times and ended up in the same room twice before too!

 

[dismom1976]

We are leaving on 5/16 for a week long stay at WL. We just can't wait. We stayed there once before in 2001 and loved it. This year will be the first time we are planning on using the rope drop approach. Can't wait to see how well it works.

 

[SCDisneyFan]

Transportion from the WL didnt seem all that bad this year. The boat offers a great way to reach MK, and the longest we waited (once) was only about 8 minutes. We were leaving MK really late one night via the boat and decided to sit out on the front. About 20 seconds later I almost fell over the side from the deafening sound of the horn, LOL. Talk about a wakeup call on an otherwise nice and quiet boat ride. The busses seemed to arrive at a constant rate of every 15 minutes, so we just planned accordingly. I would suggest allowing 30 minutes for travel time to the parks just in case, especially if you are trying to make rope drop or an ADR. Twenty minutes just wasnt enough for us in most cases when traveling by bus. You have to keep in mind that some WL busses travel to the Grand Floridian to pick up more passengers before they travel to the parks. It always seemed that the bus we were waiting on was the last one to arrive

 

[GoofEeyore26]

Oh I forgot to mention that we also had an instance on Thunder Mountain where another teen that was part of a group was sitting with a couple of girls behind us, and proceeded to scream the whole ride (again trying to be funny). I'm not talking about a "wow this ride is fun" scream, but a "I'm going to scream at the absolute top of my lungs and try to be as annoying as possible". My wife and I along with a mom and her little girl left the ride disgusted. One good thing about the troublsome groups was that they all wore colored hats or t-shirts, which made them easy to avoid for the most part. Not that all of the teens in the groups were bad at all, but the few instances we experienced from a couple were some of the worst Ive had to deal with at WDW (and I'm a pretty tolerant person). Did anyone else notice this who was there at this time?

I was there these past 6 days as well and know exactly what you are talking about with these groups of teens. When we went on Mission Space there were a bunch of these kids and my GF and i ended up on the ride with two of them...needless to say they ruined the whole ride by screaming and pretending the vomit the whole time (i was secretly hoping that he would when he got off the ride...would have served him right). These teens were the ones in the florescent green shirts...not sure where they were from though.

 

[minniemousepancake]

I'm so glad you had a great stay! I'll be checking into the Wilderness Lodge in 11 days!!!!

 

[ShannonMB]

I so look forward to when we can stay at WL. So far we've only stayed at All-Stars, and this Nov we will stay at POFQ. Maybe next year at WL!!!

On our last trip (Pres week), I had the same experience as you did. We did RD and used FP well, and even though it was crowded, no one was in our way. I guess we did it right, huh!!!

I'm so glad you had a great trip!!!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Trip Reports board.