I am just the opposite. They already have the courtyard done, and if you look at those plans, if you have an inner courtyard view, you won't even see any construction other than while walking to the boat dock. I think enough people will not stay there that it becomes even more inviting to some of us.
Unfortunately, you'll be able to see some of the construction of the restaurant and the Southern cabins from some of the upper Inner/WL CYV rooms in the North Wing.
Thanks for the info, as always. It will be interesting to see what Disney does, especially the effect / potential enhancements that will be in store for the core Lodge we all love.
I see it as a reason to visit the resort ASAP, during the additions, and once they are done.
You're welcome and I love your game plan
I hate to think what a string of 1800 sq ft roof tops will do for a view from the upper floors of WL. I'm sure they really aren't concerned about the view for guest only paying $250+ a night. I guess roof tops are better than the construction sights and noise leading up to their completion though.
The biggest view impact will be to rooms on upper floors and the Deluxe rooms at the end of the South Wing will be most impacted by looking directly over the new restaurant and Southern cabin construction off to the right. Also, higher WL rooms facing VWL and VWL villas that face the pool/Bay Lake will have a clear view of construction. Deluxe rooms at the end of the North Wing and Woods View rooms will be impacted by the cabin construction, modification to the Otter Pond and new walkways. Standard View rooms in the North Wing will be impacted by the parking lot modification and cabin/walkway construction.
The least impact will be to Standard View South Wing rooms and VWL villas that face toward Cub's Den/North Wing and the bus stop area.
Also, we don't know what rooms/villas they may remove from inventory at some point during the construction.
Can't wait to see how this progresses! Thanks WDWKook!
You're welcome!
Well, we ditched WL last year during the pool stuff and were very glad we did. Our issues were having no pool or hot tubs for the during of our stay (quiet pool was unappealing) and the view from those balconies being of a construction mess (we were booked for Club). We went to AKL and it was just lovely.
Once again we book WL and once again we hear construction. Like others, I don't really understand these papers. It does look like it won't be as invasive to the resort as the pool rehab which cut off amenities including a good portion of the beach, the pool area, and shortcuts across the courtyard to Roaring Forks.
Will be keeping an eye out here.
This is a much bigger project than the WL pool rehab. This is slated to take 1.5 years and involves the construction of multiple buildings, 26 cabins, walkways, parking lots and new pool.
I just contacted my
travel agent in order to move my WL reservation for May '16. This is what he replied:
"I spoke to Disney directly and they advised that there is no construction planned. They did mention that some discussion boards had mentioned it but they have no plans."
This response is 100% expected at this point.
I wouldn't worry too much about switching resorts. I have a studio booked for January 2016 and went on Touring Plans and used their room view finder tool. It shows you the view from all of the different rooms. Even the rooms that would be facing the construction area have a really, really dense amount of trees blocking any view you might have of the construction. It seems like the only time you would be able to see the construction is if you are going out to the boat dock or the pool. Unless they chop down those trees...
http://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/disneys-wilderness-lodge-villas
Regardless, I will be requesting a room facing away from the construction.
It looks as if most of those trees will have to be cleared.
I may be in the minority, but this may bring my DH back to a DVC owner. I love the idea of this. We switched from Poly GV CL this year and last year because of the construction. Where I have little interest in staying in a Poly bungalow (due to the price), our family of seven would fit nicely in one of these cabins
I look forward to seeing the end result. Thanks for all the info Kook and Mike
I thought of your DH who loves WL and those roomy villas. This might just be perfect for everyone! But, they may be close to Poly Bungalow prices seeing that they're even larger
Glad we moved over to the CR last week. No matter how much buffers they put up, the noise and distraction of any construction takes away from the peacefulness of going away on vacation. Our whole town has been under construction for almost a year now due to "upgrades" to try and keep our town more functionable from future "Hurricane Sandys" and leaving this construction zone to go to another would be a disappointment.
You need a vacation from mayhem! You might even need a cabana at CR
I guess I'm an optimist. Knowing how thickly treed the area around WL is, and having wandered the trails between WL and Ft. Wilderness quite a few times, I really don't think the construction is going to be that big of a deal. I certainly wouldn't preemptively cancel any reservation in the next 6-9 months, considering the permits aren't for work until September. There is a lot of site work that will have to occur before any kind of construction can occur. I can't imagine any of this construction affecting the main lodge at all and only minimal effects on VWL. We've stayed on both sides of VWL and the only view there really is from either side is trees.
That being said...we have a one bedroom cash reservation at VWL booked for October and I do hope plenty of people cancel and/or move. I was hoping to upgrade to a two bedroom but there are none available. Hopefully some cancellations would mean one of those will free up!
I usually run along the Bay Lake trail almost daily on vacation and/or go over to FW using the Bay Lake trail and concrete trail and I can't imagine that area not being heavily impacted by this. Making new roads, new walkways, a new parking lot and building 14 cabins over there sounds like a hot mess to me.
