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

[ocalla]

Well, I decided to live dangerously and do the Online check-in!!! I did skip the online room requests section though!!

When I finished I just called Disney to make sure my request of an open balcony was on my reservation, and it was Hopefully all will turn out well upon arrival!!!

 

[mslhb]

Thanks. For those of you that have stayed deluxe rooms, what did you find was the easiest with relation to club level? Also is WL like Akl? By that I mean is the third floor the lobby level? I assume the lowest level has patios not balconies. Are those semi private or are they in open areas? Sorry for all the questions just trying to create a perfect family stay.

We stayed in a deluxe room on our last trip. We had requested high floor half way down the south wing. This set of rooms would be the closest to the lounge. None of the rooms are on the same floor. We made the request to be close to the lounge as well as I think it has the best view. We could see the lake and had a great view of the courtyard. Loved how we could hear the water feature while sitting on the balcony.

 

[SarahG03]

We're going back to the WL in May! Staying Club Level again. We stayed Club Level here last April and absolutely loved it! Can't wait to get back there. The kids have a countdown going. The first day was over 100 and now we're in the low 70's!

 

[annaaidan99]

I'm also interested in experiences with ground floor, from any location. I loved our Poly patio, so thinking it's similar.

 

[AThrillingChase]

Hi everyone, first time WL visitor here!

Weird question - I bought a womens sweatshirt from AKL that is slim fit, crewneck and tunic length. I love it! I was hoping WL may have one with their logo too. I know long shot but...

Also if anyone has some current WL specific merchandise pics I would love to see those too! I am becoming a resort specific merch collector

Can't wait for April!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Also is WL like Akl? By that I mean is the third floor the lobby level? I assume the lowest level has patios not balconies. Are those semi private or are they in open areas? Sorry for all the questions just trying to create a perfect family stay.

The WL does have some strange floor levels. The lobby is the second floor. The rooms in the south wing that are on the same floor as the lobby are considered the second floor. Rooms on the inner courtyard side of the south wing have ground floor patios.

We were on the third floor of the south wing but we only went up one flight of stairs to get to our room. The south wing has two sections and the section closest to Bay Lake has a first floor, which is ground level and can only be reached by going down a floor from the second floor-lobby level. Here is a view of the south wing, with the lobby and ground level as the second floor, the first level of rooms over the lobby is the fourth floor, and the top floor is the 7th floor club level, (which isn't visible in this picture).

The north wing rooms are different. The first level of rooms on the inner courtyard side of the section closest to the lobby are fourth floor rooms. The inner courtyard closest to the lake has ground floor rooms, so does the north wing woods view side.

This is probably more information than you wanted. I like to explore and find shortcuts and stairways to the outside.

 

[ocalla]

The WL does have some strange floor levels. The lobby is the second floor. The rooms in the south wing that are on the same floor as the lobby are considered the second floor. Rooms on the inner courtyard side of the south wing have ground floor patios.

We were on the third floor of the south wing but we only went up one flight of stairs to get to our room. The south wing has two sections and the section closest to Bay Lake has a first floor, which is ground level and can only be reached by going down a floor from the second floor-lobby level. Here is a view of the south wing, with the lobby and ground level as the second floor, the first level of rooms over the lobby is the fourth floor, and the top floor is the 7th floor club level, (which isn't visible in this picture).

The north wing rooms are different. The first level of rooms on the inner courtyard side of the section closest to the lobby are fourth floor rooms. The inner courtyard closest to the lake has ground floor rooms, so does the north wing woods view side.

This is probably more information than you wanted. I like to explore and find shortcuts and stairways to the outside.

...............who's on First????

Yea, totally lost!!!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

...............who's on First????

Yea, totally lost!!!!

That was a little confusing, wasn't it.

All the woods view levels have a ground (first) floor. The sections of the south and north wings closest to the lake have ground floors. But the rooms on the inner courtyard of the section closest to the lobby are not on the first floor.

 

[MomofDisneyLoversx3]

Ok. Wow. I think I'll just ask for south wing, high floor halfway down! Thanks all. I think once I explore it, WL will feel as much like home as AKL. People probably think I'm crazy when I tell them how to go places there.

 

[ocalla]

Wood Nymph you did a fantastic job of explaining it........Disney is the confusing one!! I can just see them sitting in the conference room like"....yea, yea, and then lets call the Second floor the First floor...."


I went with something REAL simple on my requests.....open balcony! that'll show them!!!

 

[WDWKOOK]

http://images.hosting-disney.com/PostBookingStream/Resorts/RecCalendars/2014February/1J-JITDocs.pdf

I see johnsonet already posted a pic of the most current activity guide here is the link to it, sent by WDW today.

Thank you for thinking of us!

Booked! 11/30 - 12/6, first Wilderness Lodge stay, me and Susiecat.

Plans are pretty general right now, but we want to maybe spend a little less time on rides and more time soaking up the holiday spirit, seeing all the big trees, visiting some of the resorts we've never seen, and so on.

Congratulations and I bet this won't be your last visit to WL. I'll log your dates

My DH thought I was nuts when I was writing down these times, but now I have them for you. This was from our trip in late January.

We walked off the airplane on a Wednesday morning at 9:36am. We got on a bus around 10am. The bus left the airport at 10:11am. Our first stop was the Poly at 10:47am. Then it stopped at the GF before heading to WL. We arrived at WL at 11:00am. We were met at the front by a CM with an iPad. We had done online check in and it took about five minutes before we were headed to our room, which was ready for us.

I love your minutiae and I'm going to post it to the ME section - thanks.

Leaving in 4 days for the beautiful WL! It's been a long time since my family and I stayed there since we were trying out new resorts but we are super excited to head back! Traveling with me are my parents and sister and we are all four (!) staying in a bunk bed room. Sis, dad and I are running the enchanted 10k on Saturday while my mom will be resort lounging and getting a massage our dates are 2/20-2/24 and I am about to burst with excitement at this point! Disney makes me such a little kid! Hoping this week of work flies by!

What a great vacation all of you are going to have. I'll log your dates and check-in with us if you get a chance.

After reading so many posts about closed balconies, I am beginning to panic a bit. We will be at WL in October and booked a woods view and requested 6th floor otter pond. Would we have been better off requesting 5th floor? Our DS is 8 and tall for his age, but I hate to think we will have to stand to see anything.

Some of the 6th floor rooms do have open balconies, and all of floors 2-5.

How far in advance can you make your room requests? WE have three rooms at WL and would like them as close as possible but was told they dont assign rooms til so many days out. So does anyone know what that number of days is?

You can make requests as soon as you book, but reservations don't get dropped into the resort's reservation system until about 5 days prior to arrival. After that time, the Room Assignor will assign your room.

Good Morning Everyone!!! Trip is getting closer and closer

Still toying around with online check-in vs. regular check-in.

Can someone tell me what the "Options" are for room requests when doing online check-in?

I'm one of those people that have such a HARD time making decisions, I know I would panic when the box prompts me and I don't know ahead of time what to choose!!!!

Thanks so much!!!

The OCI room location request page for WL looks like this in MDX. The 7th floor is excluded because it's the CL floor, but I don't know why the 3rd floor is excluded. The highest non-CL floor is the 6th.

We're going back to the WL in May! Staying Club Level again. We stayed Club Level here last April and absolutely loved it! Can't wait to get back there. The kids have a countdown going. The first day was over 100 and now we're in the low 70's!

The Old Faithful Club is terrific and makes you want to keep going back. It won't be long till May and happy planning with the kids.

Hi everyone, first time WL visitor here!

Weird question - I bought a womens sweatshirt from AKL that is slim fit, crewneck and tunic length. I love it! I was hoping WL may have one with their logo too. I know long shot but...

Also if anyone has some current WL specific merchandise pics I would love to see those too! I am becoming a resort specific merch collector

Can't wait for April!

Welcome to the WL/VWL thread!

Here's some of the WL resort-branded merch. from 8/13, (it's also on the first page in the SHOPPING section). I think the items were basically the same in December, too.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

The gift shop at WL is the absolute best! I love shopping there

 

[oceanmarina]

Hi all,

I recently read a trip advisor review where a person staying at the Wilderness Lodge Villas complained about construction. I called Disney and they said that there is no construction going on at all there. However I'm still wondering if anyone else has stayed there recently & seen construction, we are planning on staying there this summer & would prefer not to if there is construction going on (we stayed at the Beach club a few years ago & were never told there would be refurbishing/construction going on so close to our room, we would prefer not to repeat that experience)

 

[dansdad]

Hi all,

I recently read a trip advisor review where a person staying at the Wilderness Lodge Villas complained about construction. I called Disney and they said that there is no construction going on at all there. However I'm still wondering if anyone else has stayed there recently & seen construction, we are planning on staying there this summer & would prefer not to if there is construction going on (we stayed at the Beach club a few years ago & were never told there would be refurbishing/construction going on so close to our room, we would prefer not to repeat that experience)

Check out post #2 of this thread for rehab details including pictures. If it stays on schedule, will be completed in March.

The phone CMs are notorious for having zero information about rehabs at the resorts. The DIS is the place to come to find that type of info out.

 

[hstrickland]

Hi I have a question about CL....we haven't heard anything from the IPOs - not that it's a huge deal. We did all our dining ressies ourselves. BUT....I just like the email/snail mail that they send ...makes it feel all official, ya know. So should I contact them or just let it ride??? Don't think it's going to make or break my trip

 

[fauntleroy53]

We didn't hear from them either. So about 2 weeks before, I sent an e-mail,using the address you'll find in the beginning of the thread.
I introduced ourselves and gave arrival/departure details.
I received a very nice reply just hours later.
You're correct. It does make it feel official and we're really on our way. I kept it.......

By the way, I just left a 19 point reply post on the Resorts thread. It's Titled "Which Deluxe I Wouldn't Stay At".
I gave 19 points on why I WOULD stay at WL. Couldn't resist......
Yes, I know, I have to finish my TR's........I promise, I'm getting to it!!!! No really....

 

[WDWKOOK]

The gift shop at WL is the absolute best! I love shopping there

I like the Mercantile, too, but I do wish they had as much resort-branded merchandise as Boutiki does at the Poly.

Hi all,

I recently read a trip advisor review where a person staying at the Wilderness Lodge Villas complained about construction. I called Disney and they said that there is no construction going on at all there. However I'm still wondering if anyone else has stayed there recently & seen construction, we are planning on staying there this summer & would prefer not to if there is construction going on (we stayed at the Beach club a few years ago & were never told there would be refurbishing/construction going on so close to our room, we would prefer not to repeat that experience)

Someone posted here recently that they were having water and some noise issues, I believe, while staying at VWL. There is a room rehab going on, as dansdad posted about below.

Check out post #2 of this thread for rehab details including pictures. If it stays on schedule, will be completed in March.

The phone CMs are notorious for having zero information about rehabs at the resorts. The DIS is the place to come to find that type of info out.

It's interesting that the VWL and the WL room rehabs were never publicly announced in the usual "Disney rehab" calendars, even while the rehab was occurring at WL, it was only formally announced and covered here, I believe.

Hi I have a question about CL....we haven't heard anything from the IPOs - not that it's a huge deal. We did all our dining ressies ourselves. BUT....I just like the email/snail mail that they send ...makes it feel all official, ya know. So should I contact them or just let it ride??? Don't think it's going to make or break my trip

Just adding to fauntleroy53's post below that there are triggers for guests being contacted by the IPO. It usually occurs just before the 6 month/180-day point, if booked that early. If not, they usually then contact the guests just prior to the 60, 30 and 10-day points. But, this can vary.

They used to contact you as soon as you booked or within a week, but for the past year or two it seems they contact you at pre-set intervals. If you were never contacted at all by the IPO, just email them with your confirmation number and last name in the subject heading and they'll reply within 24-hours. They no longer send the PIP (Pre-Itinerary Planning) form, at least they haven't sent it to me in a long time. They just send this:

Howdy!

Thank you for choosing The Old Faithful Club at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge for your upcoming visit. On behalf of our entire team, we would like to extend a warm welcome to our resort!

We have a team of itinerary planners who will work closely with you in developing an itinerary that is personalized for your party. Many of our restaurants, recreational activities, tours, and special events can be booked 180 days from your date of your arrival. Our office has not yet received any requests from your party. Please note that we may not have record of any reservations not booked through our office.

If you have not already done so, we highly recommend that you visit www.disneyworld.com to sign up for a My Disney Experience account and link it to your resort reservation. This will keep you up-to-date with the new MyMagic+ enhancements that we have coming in the near future!

We want to help you create a stay with us that is magical! If we can assist you with anything for your vacation, please don't hesitate to contact us. Our office is open daily from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST. We look forward to hearing from you soon so that we may provide further assistance.

Happy Trails,

We didn't hear from them either. So about 2 weeks before, I sent an e-mail,using the address you'll find in the beginning of the thread.
I introduced ourselves and gave arrival/departure details.
I received a very nice reply just hours later.
You're correct. It does make it feel official and we're really on our way. I kept it.......

By the way, I just left a 19 point reply post on the Resorts thread. It's Titled "Which Deluxe I Wouldn't Stay At".
I gave 19 points on why I WOULD stay at WL. Couldn't resist......
Yes, I know, I have to finish my TR's........I promise, I'm getting to it!!!! No really....

I will have to check that thread out later and we're all looking forward to your TR!

 

[TempleOT]

Hi All--We have a bunk bed room with Woods View. Is there a "better" room placement to ask for or are all of the bunk bed rooms in one place? We have a 4 year old and a 7 year old, so we'd like a quieter room if possible. And access to the elevator would be great also. This is our first WL stay. Thanks!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hi All--We have a bunk bed room with Woods View. Is there a "better" room placement to ask for or are all of the bunk bed rooms in one place? We have a 4 year old and a 7 year old, so we'd like a quieter room if possible. And access to the elevator would be great also. This is our first WL stay. Thanks!

The bunk bed rooms are located throughout the resort. Just have quiet location, close to elevators added to your room request and hope for the best.

 

[gildacat]

Checking in next week
Whoohoo!
Any new mug sightings?
I have 12 of the old style mugs. I really would like something new to add to my cupboards lol