(CLOSED) Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS INFORMATION THREAD ~11/13 - 6/14~

[VAfamily1998]

Are these construction issues (noise/water) affecting the regular rooms at the WL, or just the villas? I will be there (regular WL room, not DVC) in 2 weeks and this is the first I had heard of construction/renovations. Thanks!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Are these construction issues (noise/water) affecting the regular rooms at the WL, or just the villas? I will be there (regular WL room, not DVC) in 2 weeks and this is the first I had heard of construction/renovations. Thanks!

Only VWL is being rehabbed. All WL rooms were rehabbed in 2012. VWL and WL news updates are posted in post 2. Your won't even notice what's going on at VWL if you're staying at WL.

 

[mattiew]

Do not stay in room 1030, it is on the first floor by the elevators and handicapped accessible, it is ridiculously LOUD. Both nights we were there we were awoken by mousekeeping cleaning the hall and lobby floors. We are exhausted and not happy!!!! First night 4:50 am cleaning noise (banging of dustpan over and over), 2nd night 1:30-3:10 am cleaning noise (high pitch whistle from vacuum or floor buffer).

Around 2:30 am I was going to go to the front desk to complain but could not find my magic band (we had already packed) and didn't want to wake our kids. We had an early flight out so I was unable to complain before we left. Any thoughts on the best way to discuss these issues with management? I do not want this to happen to anyone else.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Only VWL is being rehabbed. All WL rooms were rehabbed in 2012. VWL and WL news updates are posted in post 2. Your won't even notice what's going on at VWL if you're staying at WL.

Thanks!

 

[nalia]

We will be having our 1st stay at the WL the first week in March. 5 nights here then into the Disney Dream for a 3 night cruise. I have a question regarding transportation. I have read that the monorails will not be operating from 11:30 to 7 daily. We have a breakfast ADR at O'hanas on our last day at 9:30. We need to get back to WL to meet the Disney cruise bus. What would be our best route back? Thanks in advance for your responses. We are very excited and counting down the days!

 

[jcjen519]

we are going to be staying at the wl cl for several days starting at the end of march. I've looked at the layout of the cl floor and i'm inclined to request close to lounge, close to elevator. is there something i am missing? we are booked in a std cl room. any idea what kind of view we're likely to have? thanks in advance

 

[WDWKOOK]

Do not stay in room 1030, it is on the first floor by the elevators and handicapped accessible, it is ridiculously LOUD. Both nights we were there we were awoken by mousekeeping cleaning the hall and lobby floors. We are exhausted and not happy!!!! First night 4:50 am cleaning noise (banging of dustpan over and over), 2nd night 1:30-3:10 am cleaning noise (high pitch whistle from vacuum or floor buffer).

Around 2:30 am I was going to go to the front desk to complain but could not find my magic band (we had already packed) and didn't want to wake our kids. We had an early flight out so I was unable to complain before we left. Any thoughts on the best way to discuss these issues with management? I do not want this to happen to anyone else.

Were they unable to move you after your first night? Sounds like that room's location is a problematic one. Resorts often polish floors, clean the lobby area and shampoo rugs in the middle night when there are few guests walking around. Unfortunately for you and your family, you were awakened by all their machines and cleaning. A higher floor would help since anything above the ground floor would be all carpeting and away from the lobby. But, I know that doesn't make-up for your loss of sleep.

Thanks!

You're welcome.

We will be having our 1st stay at the WL the first week in March. 5 nights here then into the Disney Dream for a 3 night cruise. I have a question regarding transportation. I have read that the monorails will not be operating from 11:30 to 7 daily. We have a breakfast ADR at O'hanas on our last day at 9:30. We need to get back to WL to meet the Disney cruise bus. What would be our best route back? Thanks in advance for your responses. We are very excited and counting down the days!

Welcome! From the Poly, take their boat to the MK, then walk over to the boat for WL.

we are going to be staying at the wl cl for several days starting at the end of march. I've looked at the layout of the cl floor and i'm inclined to request close to lounge, close to elevator. is there something i am missing? we are booked in a std cl room. any idea what kind of view we're likely to have? thanks in advance

Welcome! All of the rooms on the CL floor, with the exception of the suites, are classified as Standard rooms with views of the WL Courtyard or Woods. If you want to be closest to the lobby elevators and lounge, you will want to request a South Wing room. In the South Wing there are rooms that face toward the WL Courtyard (odd numbered) and rooms that face toward VWL (even numbered). There is also one room that directly faces the WL Courtyard (7127), but it is the furthest room in the wing from the elevator and lounge, but still only about a minute walk.

Let us know if you any other questions and you're going to love the OFC!

 

[amwildwood]

So my husband talked to the front desk - didn't expect much. Wanted them to know that we weren't happy about it Wouldn't want them to think that everyone's ok with the water outage. Refunded one night of pts. But we're renting. So at least it helps the friend of a friend were renting from. ? Dangling light should have been fixed and that's how my husband understood from the front desk mgr. they said work order completed. It was not. Still half broken. The light works, just looks like it's falling down. I have a pic, not a way to post it. Sigh. We liked this place enough last time to go back. Not so sure now. My husband hates the disconnect between Disney deluxe and everywhere else deluxe. Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

UPDATE: Gina from front desk called left msg. We talked to her tonight and she gave us a credit over pts. Works for us. We also stayed out of the room today during the water shutoff (easier to work it in our plans) and the water didn't take 30-40 min to flush out like yesterday. So we do have clear water now with no other shutoffs expected during our stay. The lamp in the room was fixed today too.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[MamaBear58]

Curious whether those of you who have stayed at WL before think there's any advantage to having a rental car. We will be there mid Nov (after Food & Wine and Jersey Week but before Thanksgiving, if that matters), for 7 nights (11/15 - 11/22). I know that the quickest way to get from WL to the MK is by boat, but is it worth it for going to the other parks and hotels for meals?

Also, if we decide to try the buses and then don't like it, can the front desk get a rental car delived to WL for us? Or will I pay through the nose if I try to do that?

Family of four. Kids are 7 and 4.

Thanks.

 

[dansdad]

Curious whether those of you who have stayed at WL before think there's any advantage to having a rental car. We will be there mid Nov (after Food & Wine and Jersey Week but before Thanksgiving, if that matters), for 7 nights (11/15 - 11/22). I know that the quickest way to get from WL to the MK is by boat, but is it worth it for going to the other parks and hotels for meals?

Also, if we decide to try the buses and then don't like it, can the front desk get a rental car delived to WL for us? Or will I pay through the nose if I try to do that?

Family of four. Kids are 7 and 4.

Thanks.

This topic seams to be pretty equally divided between those that use WDW transportation and those who like to drive. We are in the WDW transportation group. We have been to the world 4 times with our own car and only used it a total of 3 times during those 4 trips. And that was just to get to an early breakfast ADR at another resort. We have stayed at moderates when we've had our car and had to use buses 100% of the time and never had an issue. We really like using WDW transportation as we find we meet some really cool people and see it as part of the whole experience.

The only thing that makes having a car useful, IMHO, is for early breakfast ADRs at another resort. When we don't have our car we usually use a cab for that and it's always been under $20 with tip. We usually only have 1 or 2 of those per trip so it wouldn't be worth it to rent a car for that. Then after breakfast we just jump on the bus/boat/monorail and to to a park.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

We're here!!!!
Checked in at 9am,WL CL. What kind of day was it?? Well, if DH & I were to leave now, it would have been a marvelous day, with us being pixie dusted more than we ever expected.
We were met in front by a nice CM with an IPad who brought us up to floor 7. We were the only ones checking in at the time, so both Victoria and "Not My Real Name " Luis, helped us. Luis said that he usually works the lobby desk, so his real name tag is on his other uniform. Both of our requested rooms are inhabited, so they were going to put us near 7035,to pop us in there eventually,but I said I preferred 7127 (which I knew was currently being used by another Disboard family). So while Victoria took care of paying off our room, Not My Real Name Luis said he'd move us into 7127 on Tuesday, so he would also move our temporary room from the other side to this side,s o we would be closer when we were moved (we're now in #7111). First sprinkling of pixie dust. While being checked in, DH mentioned how we recently saw Saving Mr. Banks and now he MUST see Mary Poppins, which he never saw...more on that later.....our temporary room wasn't ready, so we grabbed a little breakfast in the CL lounge and walked the grounds-saw the health club, Carolwood Room, Springs Pool, beach, marina..sat for awhile by the brook in the lobby until the sound of the water was having a have to go to the bathroom effect on me. Found that little porch area with the rocking chairs just off the lobby. My new favorite spot. So peaceful. Birds, butterflies, just a nice area. Sealed the deal-officially in love with WL.
Temp room ready at noon. Nice room(7111 I referred to earlier). Waited for Robert to bring up our luggage. Very,very nice man. Had lunch at Roaring Forks, then decided to take the boat over to MK. Did Stitch and Monsters U. for the first time. Did Peoplemovers and Carousel O P for the first time since '64, when I did them at the Worlds Fair - a nostalgic thrill for me(DH is a retired HS principal, so he's been on them as a chaperone many times-me,as a Middle School counselor, our students went to Boston instead of WDW every year.....). I had a Mickey Bar, which made the vacation officially real & under way. Stopped at the Firehouse to pick up Sorcerer Cards, which I can't understand & don't have the grandkids here to explain it, tried hard to figure it out, but not really,so when my brains started leaking out my ears, it was time to head back to the boat. Walked right into the start of a parade!! Nice timing, go figure, who knew, not us...we're walking around MK clueless, but happy......
Got back to our room and there was a lovely "bait basket" welcoming gift. Don't know who it is from though. I thought the chocolates on the bed with the welcoming letter was our check in gift, so we felt Pixie dusted AGAIN. But that's not all. Next to the basket was a DVD of Mary Poppins!!! Either Victoria or Not My Real Name Luis, was really listening when DH said he wanted to see the movie and they made it appear. Now THAT'S what we feel is really sweet and thoughtful!!!! Pixie dusted a third time.
Went to Raglan Road for dinner. Great! If you show up around 6:30,you'll get to see both the dancers and the musicians play (got to hang out in the lobby later with the male dancer, for a few minutes, very nice young man!). Loved table #82. It's a high top for 4,on the other side of the little wall, so you're close enough to see everything, but you're not right in the thick of things, just on the outskirts, as it were.

So, at 9:30pm,DH got some cobbler, a glass of cognac and watched the end of the Super Bowl. He is totally in the zone and I know I'll need help prying him from the room next Monday. Once he got that drink in his hand, he's settled in, that's it, he's here forever. As for me, some cobbler too, and, I have to say, some of the BEST chocolate milk I've ever had!!!! For me, that's heaven!!Oh, one more thing. We asked about being a Flag Family and Victoria managed somehow to squeeze us in the morning we checkout, next Monday. Perfect!! Pixie Dust #4 !!!!!

An absolutely magical day!!!!!!!
Tomorrow, we do Keys To The Kingdom Tour and Pirates & Pals Fireworks Cruise at night. Will report back on both.

Kook, I'm so glad I brought the goodies for the CM's!!!! They have been SO wonderful and it's only day 1. I'm going to hand it over Tuesday morning when we switch rooms and Randy is back. They really do deserve some recognition for the job they do.
Gotta get up early -tour starts at 8:30,so we'll be at the bus around 7:45, I'm guessing.
Just an amazing day!!!!!!!

Very nice read! Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[MamaBear58]

This topic seams to be pretty equally divided between those that use WDW transportation and those who like to drive. We are in the WDW transportation group. We have been to the world 4 times with our own car and only used it a total of 3 times during those 4 trips. And that was just to get to an early breakfast ADR at another resort. We have stayed at moderates when we've had our car and had to use buses 100% of the time and never had an issue. We really like using WDW transportation as we find we meet some really cool people and see it as part of the whole experience.

The only thing that makes having a car useful, IMHO, is for early breakfast ADRs at another resort. When we don't have our car we usually use a cab for that and it's always been under $20 with tip. We usually only have 1 or 2 of those per trip so it wouldn't be worth it to rent a car for that. Then after breakfast we just jump on the bus/boat/monorail and to to a park.

Thank you. So funny you mentioned the taxi because I also thought that would be good back up too if for some reason the buses did not work for a particular event. I could see getting frustrated trying to get to get to dinner reservations on the buses. But I could also see the kids enjoying the novelty of the transportaion system and having gone thru the hassle of getting a car at the airport (which i hate), not to mention the expense, only to use it a few times.

 

[Grand Admiral]

wow​

such hotel

very guest​

many room

wow​

​

I've been spending too much time on the internet.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Curious whether those of you who have stayed at WL before think there's any advantage to having a rental car. We will be there mid Nov (after Food & Wine and Jersey Week but before Thanksgiving, if that matters), for 7 nights (11/15 - 11/22). I know that the quickest way to get from WL to the MK is by boat, but is it worth it for going to the other parks and hotels for meals?

Also, if we decide to try the buses and then don't like it, can the front desk get a rental car delived to WL for us? Or will I pay through the nose if I try to do that?

Family of four. Kids are 7 and 4.

Thanks.

We are also in the no car camp, which is super strange for us because I drive a lot at home. Our time at Disney is the only time in my life where I go that long without driving...

This past trip we rode with DIS friends in their rental car to Downtown Disney and found that to be quicker than the bus. For us, the key to being happy with the WDW transportation is seeing it as part of the fun. We get way less annoyed at taking an hour to get somewhere if it is a fun trip and we get to see cool places along the way. (And, by the way, you can probably get anywhere in under an hour.) Having a car would also be nice for the water parks, so that you wouldn't have to wait as long for a bus, and could get to/from the water park and back to the hotel quicker, but again it works out fine if you allow the extra time. Also be prepared for delays at peak times whether you drive or use WDW transportation. If everyone is leaving a park at the same time, it is going to take a while.

We love that WL has lots of transportation options. Even for getting to MK, we find that the buses are quicker than the boat, but less fun. Either way they take you to the front of MK, which you would have to ride a boat or monorail to get to after parking anyway. For the other parks you could drive there quicker, but if you allow time for the bus it works out fine. Using WDW transportation also makes park hopping easy, so you can migrate from park to resort to another park without worrying about where you left the car. Either way, have a great trip.

 

[jcjen519]

Were they unable to move you after your first night? Sounds like that room's location is a problematic one. Resorts often polish floors, clean the lobby area and shampoo rugs in the middle night when there are few guests walking around. Unfortunately for you and your family, you were awakened by all their machines and cleaning. A higher floor would help since anything above the ground floor would be all carpeting and away from the lobby. But, I know that doesn't make-up for your loss of sleep.


You're welcome.


Welcome! From the Poly, take their boat to the MK, then walk over to the boat for WL.


Welcome! All of the rooms on the CL floor, with the exception of the suites, are classified as Standard rooms with views of the WL Courtyard or Woods. If you want to be closest to the lobby elevators and lounge, you will want to request a South Wing room. In the South Wing there are rooms that face toward the WL Courtyard (odd numbered) and rooms that face toward VWL (even numbered). There is also one room that directly faces the WL Courtyard (7127), but it is the furthest room in the wing from the elevator and lounge, but still only about a minute walk.

Let us know if you any other questions and you're going to love the OFC!

thank you so much for the information! We are looking forward to giving WL CL a try!

 

[CAHarwell]

Do they still have the Sleepy Hollow Halloween Carriage Rides over @ Ft. Wilderness? I can't find anything about it on the Disney World site and would love to book it for our trip to Wilderness Lodge in October.

 

[HockeyMomR]

Hey Rebecca!!! I see you are giving WL a try also this year? I'm definitely going to miss heading to BC this summer, but we are really excited about our upcoming WL stay!!

Happy Planning

According to your ticker your trip to WL is coming up soon? Hope to see a WL report.

We will probably miss Y&BC too. Excited about trying something new, though. Going to Yachtsman one night for dinner will help.

 

[HockeyMomR]

Welcome to the WL/VWL thread, HockeyMomR. You arrive the day after we depart.

For a Woods View room, a popular request is a high floor near the Otter Pond. These rooms are in the North Wing and you can see some of Wishes/CR/MK from the higher floors. However, if you don't want to have a balcony with a solid railing, you'll need to request the 5th floor which is the highest floor without them. Some of the 6th floor and all of the CL's 7th floor balconies have solid railings that you have to be standing to see over.

Happy planning and let us know if you have any other questions.

Thank you! I have requested. We are excited. I love Disney in April, enjoy your trip! Checked out your links for room views. I am in planning mode and have made our ADR for Artist Point, which we love, for Easter dinner. Think I will be lurking around this thread, you have great information on the first page with links!

Rebecca

 

[ocalla]

According to your ticker your trip to WL is coming up soon? Hope to see a WL report.

We will probably miss Y&BC too. Excited about trying something new, though. Going to Yachtsman one night for dinner will help.

20 days to go................not that I'm counting

Yachtsman was fantastic last July!!! Great way to stop in and say hello to Teena!!!

 

[Three cats]

Do they still have the Sleepy Hollow Halloween Carriage Rides over @ Ft. Wilderness? I can't find anything about it on the Disney World site and would love to book it for our trip to Wilderness Lodge in October.

Apparently, they were discontinued. I saw this on the Allears site:

UPDATE 9/13: Haunted Carriage Rides at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground will not be returning this year. The seasonal 25-minute rides, which were themed to "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and featured the Headless Horseman, were discontinued in 2012. No word if the change is permanent