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

[Mac4life30]

What are some activities one can do at WL? I'm trying to convince someone that it is worth the extra $$ to stay at a deluxe. We are normally the type who spends all day at a park. If there was a reason we would however spend more hotel time. Would I get more fun hotel time at WL or AKL?

 

[bluecastle]

KOOK- I know you mentioned on another page that you had never gone in late June before. We used to go in spring when my DD was in preschool, then October when she was in elementary school ( yes, I took her out of school- and me a former teacher!), but when she got to high school with fall sports starting in August and not wanting her to miss any school, we switched to June, right after school ended. We found that the crowds were not bad in the beginning of our trip but got steadily worse as we got closer to July 4th. Also, on July 1st those large tour groups suddenly appeared. I would get those things that are less fun with huge crowds, like MSEP, out of the way in the beginning. One year, the weather back home was actually hotter and more humid than we were experiencing in FLA! We had 3 pm rainstorms every day, but most other parts of the day were fine. We love touring in the rain in the summer anyhow. I guess it is not too different than August in many ways, but the crowd levels will be higher and using FP+ may be more important. The hours will be extended like at holiday times, so that increases your options also. Did you make any ADRs?
Happy Planning! p.s. I wonder if we will have a delay or closing tomorrow? I hope extending the school year doesn't interfere with your travel dates!

 

[WDWKOOK]

A couple of weeks ago AllEars changed the URLs for all their WDW menus. I've updated all of them in the DINING section so that the menu hyperlinks once again take you right to the menu.​

11 days until we arrive at WL CL for our one night stay. We are really looking forward to it.

The next day we switch over to AKL CL.


We are so excited about both of our stays. This will be our first stay at WL and our third stay at AKL.

We are celebrating our 18 Anniversary and our son's high school graduation and going off to college.


Thanks Kook for all the great info about WLCL, I found answers to my questions.


.

So glad you found the answers you were looking for and feel free to let us know if you have any others. What a great celebration you're going to have for your anniversary and DS's graduation. Congratulations!

What are some activities one can do at WL? I'm trying to convince someone that it is worth the extra $$ to stay at a deluxe. We are normally the type who spends all day at a park. If there was a reason we would however spend more hotel time. Would I get more fun hotel time at WL or AKL?

Welcome! The first page has lots of information on the different recreational activities available. Unlike AKL, WL and FW right next door have a marina with water recreation. They also have bike rentals, which AKL doesn't offer. From WL, you can walk, boat or bus right to FW. FW has a stable, horseback riding and pony rides. There is also a free nightly marshmallow roast and movie on the beach.

Deluxe resorts generally offer more transportation options, larger rooms, nightly turn-down service by-request, Club Level rooms, suites, more dining options and rooms that do not have exterior doors. Everything at WL is under one roof!

KOOK- I know you mentioned on another page that you had never gone in late June before. We used to go in spring when my DD was in preschool, then October when she was in elementary school ( yes, I took her out of school- and me a former teacher!), but when she got to high school with fall sports starting in August and not wanting her to miss any school, we switched to June, right after school ended. We found that the crowds were not bad in the beginning of our trip but got steadily worse as we got closer to July 4th. Also, on July 1st those large tour groups suddenly appeared. I would get those things that are less fun with huge crowds, like MSEP, out of the way in the beginning. One year, the weather back home was actually hotter and more humid than we were experiencing in FLA! We had 3 pm rainstorms every day, but most other parts of the day were fine. We love touring in the rain in the summer anyhow. I guess it is not too different than August in many ways, but the crowd levels will be higher and using FP+ may be more important. The hours will be extended like at holiday times, so that increases your options also. Did you make any ADRs?
Happy Planning! p.s. I wonder if we will have a delay or closing tomorrow? I hope extending the school year doesn't interfere with your travel dates!

Thank you for remembering and posting your experience in June. Your comments are very helpful. Since we used FP+ at Christmas, the busiest time of year, I'm now much less concerned about June. Knowing that we're guaranteed 3 attraction reservations per day makes planning at busier times so much easier. We also love all of the resort/CL amenities, so we're always happy to seek refuge at WL in the afternoons if it gets too crowded, hot or rainy. Now that DD is older, she loves going to MK at night which is a nice way to get in a few rides when it's cooler and usually less crowded, except if you get caught in one of the parade crowds and can't crossover from one side to the other

I haven't made my ADRs yet, but I do need to do that. Tomorrow might be a great day to do that since we now have a winter storm warning. Hope they "make the call" tonight, then I won't have to get up at 0430 to check

 

[mom_of_2]

Deluxe resorts generally offer more transportation options, larger rooms, nightly turn-down service by-request, Club Level rooms, suites, more dining options and rooms that do not have exterior doors. Everything at WL is under one roof!:

How would you go about requesting turn down service of not staying club level? Do you mention at check in or speak to housekeeping? This may sound silly but we stayed CL last year and my kids could not wait to get back to the room at night for their chocolate and stuffed animals "ready for bed". I did not know turn down could even be requested. This just make the whole trip for my kids...it's the little things that matter to them!

 

[jemh628]

Well my first stay at WL has now been put on hold. We have moved our trip to Contemporary since DH thinks it will be a better location having a toddler. Thank you for this great thread and hopefully I will get to visit this lovely resort some day.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Yet another Snow Day here for schools and federal gov't. I don't know if I can wait till June to get back to FL

How would you go about requesting turn down service of not staying club level? Do you mention at check in or speak to housekeeping? This may sound silly but we stayed CL last year and my kids could not wait to get back to the room at night for their chocolate and stuffed animals "ready for bed". I did not know turn down could even be requested. This just make the whole trip for my kids...it's the little things that matter to them!

Only GF provides turn-down automatically to all rooms. At the other Deluxes, when not staying CL, all you have to do is either request at check-in and/or contact housekeeping and let them know.

Well my first stay at WL has now been put on hold. We have moved our trip to Contemporary since DH thinks it will be a better location having a toddler. Thank you for this great thread and hopefully I will get to visit this lovely resort some day.

Hope to see you on the new CR/BLT thread

 

[Viking_53]

Hi all,

Tomorrow we are 60 days out from our VWL stay, and then our cruise.

We haven't used the Fastpass+ system before, and I'm curious as to how easy it is. I seem to have better luck using the Disney website rather than the phone app. I sent an invite to my wife to view our reservation information from the app several times - she finally received it yesterday when I sent it through the Disney website.

All that being said, I believe I read on here that we can set up Fastpass+ for lunch at the "Be Our Guest" restaurant. Every time I try to look at that option, it says I can only reserve dinner dining through dining reservations. Thus, I want to make sure we can set this up as we want to have lunch there.

Also, I thought I had read on here that you can set up Fastpass+ for the Princess meet & greets.

I think you can sense a theme here for my 6 year old daughter. I just wanted to make sure I jump on these opportunities when our window opens tomorrow.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[zdad]

2 weeks and 2 days until we finally return to WL. It has been too long since we last made it to WDW. I have finally retired after a 33 year career at the same company, so what better way to celebrate than getting to hear "Welcome Home" again.

Booked a woods view room, as we always do. Had pixie dust the last couple times there and ended up with a courtyard view room. A couple of questions......

1. With the online check in, what are the chances of getting the room bumped up from Woods view? We have mixed feelings. Love the view from a Courtyard room, but the quiet awesomeness of a Woods room is so relaxing.

2. When its just mama and I, we like being on the side overlooking the quiet pool, which we put in our request. With the construction at VWL, do you think that's an issue this time or is the construction issue limited to those actually staying at VWL?

3. We are coming in late on April 2nd, and staying at All Star Sports for the night. Just a place to lay our heads. We move to WL the next morning. We'll have our luggage moved to WL by the bellman, but with the magic bands, do we even need to show up at WL until the afternoon? can we go straight to the Magic Kingdom without issue? Last time, we had to go to WL to get our Keys to the Kingdom and then on to MK.

4. are the milk shakes at Whispering Canyon still as good as we remember?

Thanks to all on this site for making vacation planning and general WDW and WL discussion a great experience.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hi all,

Tomorrow we are 60 days out from our VWL stay, and then our cruise.

We haven't used the Fastpass+ system before, and I'm curious as to how easy it is. I seem to have better luck using the Disney website rather than the phone app. I sent an invite to my wife to view our reservation information from the app several times - she finally received it yesterday when I sent it through the Disney website.

All that being said, I believe I read on here that we can set up Fastpass+ for lunch at the "Be Our Guest" restaurant. Every time I try to look at that option, it says I can only reserve dinner dining through dining reservations. Thus, I want to make sure we can set this up as we want to have lunch there.

Also, I thought I had read on here that you can set up Fastpass+ for the Princess meet & greets.

I think you can sense a theme here for my 6 year old daughter. I just wanted to make sure I jump on these opportunities when our window opens tomorrow.

Thanks for any and all help!

I set everything up using the MDE website. It was a lot easier and I always felt it was a little "safer" to do it that way. Once I am on site and in the parks, the app comes in very handy to change fp+'s around. You have plenty of time to book them since I don't think the time slots will fill up until closer to your trip dates and then it would be only for the most popular and limited attractions - like Toy Story Mania or a fp for Wishes.

The Be Our Guest lunch fast pass reservation is not made in the dining section of the WDW website. Nor it is a regular fp+. It is a separate reservation made on a different website. Here is the link to the website:

https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/

Reservations for the lunch usually don't open until close to the beginning of the month. April dates are open now, but I'm pretty sure that they aren't open yet for May. Also, you need to use a 12 digit reservation number. There can't be any letters in your reservation number. If you have a reservation number with a letter in it, then go to the Manage Magic Bands section of your MDE account. There you will find the 12 digit reservation number that begins with a 4. Use that number when trying to set up your fast pass at the Be Our Guest website.
I hope that helps.

2 weeks and 2 days until we finally return to WL. It has been too long since we last made it to WDW. I have finally retired after a 33 year career at the same company, so what better way to celebrate than getting to hear "Welcome Home" again.

Booked a woods view room, as we always do. Had pixie dust the last couple times there and ended up with a courtyard view room. A couple of questions......

1. With the online check in, what are the chances of getting the room bumped up from Woods view? We have mixed feelings. Love the view from a Courtyard room, but the quiet awesomeness of a Woods room is so relaxing.

2. When its just mama and I, we like being on the side overlooking the quiet pool, which we put in our request. With the construction at VWL, do you think that's an issue this time or is the construction issue limited to those actually staying at VWL?

I know how you feel about the woods view rooms. We like them better than courtyard and don't want a free upgrade. So far, whatever room view we booked was the room view we received.

The villas are going through a room refurbishment. As far as I know there isn't any outside construction. So you won't even know anything is happening over there.

 

[AThrillingChase]

Hi all,

Tomorrow we are 60 days out from our VWL stay, and then our cruise.

We haven't used the Fastpass+ system before, and I'm curious as to how easy it is. I seem to have better luck using the Disney website rather than the phone app. I sent an invite to my wife to view our reservation information from the app several times - she finally received it yesterday when I sent it through the Disney website.

All that being said, I believe I read on here that we can set up Fastpass+ for lunch at the "Be Our Guest" restaurant. Every time I try to look at that option, it says I can only reserve dinner dining through dining reservations. Thus, I want to make sure we can set this up as we want to have lunch there.

Also, I thought I had read on here that you can set up Fastpass+ for the Princess meet & greets.

I think you can sense a theme here for my 6 year old daughter. I just wanted to make sure I jump on these opportunities when our window opens tomorrow.

Thanks for any and all help!

Just confirming the BOG FP+ are available for April at least! I booked mine yesterday!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Just confirming the BOG FP+ are available for April at least! I booked mine yesterday!

Thanks for the info. I edited my post.

We will be eating at BOG this Saturday. I'm am excited to show my sister and friend around the castle. It will be their first time there and our fourth time. I love the braised pork.

And we can't miss eating dinner at Trail's End this Thursday night. My DH is looking forward to having the ribs, baked beans and bread pudding while I can't wait to have some of that delicious fried chicken.

 

[zdad59]

I know how you feel about the woods view rooms. We like them better than courtyard and don't want a free upgrade. So far, whatever room view we booked was the room view we received.

The villas are going through a room refurbishment. As far as I know there isn't any outside construction. So you won't even know anything is happening over there.

Thanks for the info on the Villas construction. That is reassuring. Taking the boat from the MK, you make that turn after the water bridge, and its like your not in any of the parks anymore. Everything changes. Still that awesome Disney quality service, but you are in another world. Nothing like coming back to WL midday after trucking through the park, and heading for the Jacuzzi on the quiet side. Just completely relaxing. Re-energizes me for the evening. I can't wait.

 

[pas130]

Came very close to a WL CL switch for August...35% off is a great rate, so anyone contemplating should definitely call today!!!It's selling out fast I'm told! Good luck lodgers!!!

 

[Viking_53]

I set everything up using the MDE website. It was a lot easier and I always felt it was a little "safer" to do it that way. Once I am on site and in the parks, the app comes in very handy to change fp+'s around. You have plenty of time to book them since I don't think the time slots will fill up until closer to your trip dates and then it would be only for the most popular and limited attractions - like Toy Story Mania or a fp for Wishes.

The Be Our Guest lunch fast pass reservation is not made in the dining section of the WDW website. Nor it is a regular fp+. It is a separate reservation made on a different website. Here is the link to the website:

https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com/

Reservations for the lunch usually don't open until close to the beginning of the month. April dates are open now, but I'm pretty sure that they aren't open yet for May. Also, you need to use a 12 digit reservation number. There can't be any letters in your reservation number. If you have a reservation number with a letter in it, then go to the Manage Magic Bands section of your MDE account. There you will find the 12 digit reservation number that begins with a 4. Use that number when trying to set up your fast pass at the Be Our Guest website.
I hope that helps.


I know how you feel about the woods view rooms. We like them better than courtyard and don't want a free upgrade. So far, whatever room view we booked was the room view we received.

The villas are going through a room refurbishment. As far as I know there isn't any outside construction. So you won't even know anything is happening over there.

Thanks very much for the information!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Thanks for the info. I edited my post.

We will be eating at BOG this Saturday. I'm am excited to show my sister and friend around the castle. It will be their first time there and our fourth time. I love the braised pork.

And we can't miss eating dinner at Trail's End this Thursday night. My DH is looking forward to having the ribs, baked beans and bread pudding while I can't wait to have some of that delicious fried chicken.

Mmmm, you are making me hungry. Well, that and the fact we made our ADRs for our September trip today. We got our BOG dinner reservation, so sharing that with my parents will be neat. I also really want some Trail's End ribs!

 

[MamaBear58]

Came very close to a WL CL switch for August...35% off is a great rate, so anyone contemplating should definitely call today!!!It's selling out fast I'm told! Good luck lodgers!!!

Where did you see 35% off CL? Do you by any chance know whether or not it is good at AKL too?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Where did you see 35% off CL? Do you by any chance know whether or not it is good at AKL too?

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/summer-room-and-tickets-discount/

 

[pas130]

Where did you see 35% off CL? Do you by any chance know whether or not it is good at AKL too?

For the Summer discount. I priced it out and almost booked. AKL is 25% for CL. As long as you book 6 or more nights it is 35% off WL

 

[pas130]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/summer-room-and-tickets-discount/

 

[Cobern]

Another dumb question here . When checking into the villasd I we check in at the main lobby or in the villas building?