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

[Wood Nymph]

Checking in - maybe. I'm holding on to a WL ressie for August. Woods view on the summer savings rate for 3 nights. Haven't been to the Lodge since 2010. Missing that pool!!!!

Anyway, just wanted to say "hi" and get my subscription going.

Any issues at WL in August? Refurb etc?

Thanks!

Both the WL resort rooms and the villas have recently been refurbed. The place looked gorgeous when we were there in January. I can't imagine what else they could do right now.

 

[princessesintraining]

Can someone tell me where I can get information about using an ECV during our trip? One of the grandparents will be needing one during our stay and I wondered if it is difficult to park in the rooms. They each like having a queen bed to themselves so I didn't request a king bed with handicap accessibility? I also wondered if anyone had any experience with ECV rentals? Can you point me in a direction to get information? TIA!

I saw an ecv parked in the hall this past September when we stayed at the lodge. My mom just rented one from the parks,as she is able to walk, but had knee replacement surgery, so the parks did a number On her.

 

[bookgirl]

I've subbed in. Looking at WL for my Oct trip. (have a standard booked at the moment).


We are not much for the balcony so I'm not too worried about view. However, we will be doing Epcot for F&W.

I'm guessing I don't want to request close to lobby but maybe close to boat dock?

Thinking close to food and close to dock are not possible?

We probably will bus over to AK and DHS one day but MK and Epcot will be the ones we hit the most.

Any of you WL alumni have suggestions.

We are also not pool people so we won't care if we are not easy access to that.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I've subbed in. Looking at WL for my Oct trip. (have a standard booked at the moment).


We are not much for the balcony so I'm not too worried about view. However, we will be doing Epcot for F&W.

I'm guessing I don't want to request close to lobby but maybe close to boat dock?

Thinking close to food and close to dock are not possible?

We probably will bus over to AK and DHS one day but MK and Epcot will be the ones we hit the most.

Any of you WL alumni have suggestions.

We are also not pool people so we won't care if we are not easy access to that.

First off you can't go too wrong at WL, so anywhere will be fine. It is a small enough resort that you can get wherever you want in about five minutes.

If you wind up with a Standard view room, you will likely be in the middle section of the North wing. The other standard view rooms are in the lobby section of the South wing. The map in this post shows the potential locations.

Personally we enjoy being close to the lobby, since the open hallways are beautiful. There is some afternoon noise from the WCC restaurant in the lobby though. Roaring Fork, the resort's Quick Service restaurant is in the middle of the North wing on the first floor, so it is closer to North wing rooms than those in the South wing.

For transportation, the boat dock is beyond the East end of the North wing, and the buses are at the opposite corner of the resort South of the lobby. For Epcot, the bus tends to be the quickest way, but another option is to take the boat to CR and then monorail to TTC to catch an Epcot monorail. Another alternative is to bus to HS then walk or boat to the International Gateway side of Epcot.

So, for you any of the Standard view rooms in the North wing will be relatively close to food, and about halfway between your transportation options, so you should be fine. Many people request a high floor to be a little quieter and have a chance at seeing Wishes in the distance. Happy planning and enjoy your trip.

 

[pas130]

First off you can't go too wrong at WL, so anywhere will be fine. It is a small enough resort that you can get wherever you want in about five minutes.

If you wind up with a Standard view room, you will likely be in the middle section of the North wing. The other standard view rooms are in the lobby section of the South wing. The map in this post shows the potential locations.

Personally we enjoy being close to the lobby, since the open hallways are beautiful. There is some afternoon noise from the WCC restaurant in the lobby though. Roaring Fork, the resort's Quick Service restaurant is in the middle of the North wing on the first floor, so it is closer to North wing rooms than those in the South wing.

For transportation, the boat dock is beyond the East end of the North wing, and the buses are at the opposite corner of the resort South of the lobby. For Epcot, the bus tends to be the quickest way, but another option is to take the boat to CR and then monorail to TTC to catch an Epcot monorail. Another alternative is to bus to HS then walk or boat to the International Gateway side of Epcot.

So, for you any of the Standard view rooms in the North wing will be relatively close to food, and about halfway between your transportation options, so you should be fine. Many people request a high floor to be a little quieter and have a chance at seeing Wishes in the distance. Happy planning and enjoy your trip.

Thank you for this post it really did make my day!

 

[bookgirl]

First off you can't go too wrong at WL, so anywhere will be fine. It is a small enough resort that you can get wherever you want in about five minutes.

If you wind up with a Standard view room, you will likely be in the middle section of the North wing. The other standard view rooms are in the lobby section of the South wing. The map in this post shows the potential locations.

Personally we enjoy being close to the lobby, since the open hallways are beautiful. There is some afternoon noise from the WCC restaurant in the lobby though. Roaring Fork, the resort's Quick Service restaurant is in the middle of the North wing on the first floor, so it is closer to North wing rooms than those in the South wing.

For transportation, the boat dock is beyond the East end of the North wing, and the buses are at the opposite corner of the resort South of the lobby. For Epcot, the bus tends to be the quickest way, but another option is to take the boat to CR and then monorail to TTC to catch an Epcot monorail. Another alternative is to bus to HS then walk or boat to the International Gateway side of Epcot.

So, for you any of the Standard view rooms in the North wing will be relatively close to food, and about halfway between your transportation options, so you should be fine. Many people request a high floor to be a little quieter and have a chance at seeing Wishes in the distance. Happy planning and enjoy your trip.

Thanks, sounds great. I'll add North Wing as a request then.

I'm not hugely fussy about location myself but mom is coming along and I like to minimize her distance. This will only be my second deluxe stay but after reviewing the info I think WL will be a nice departure from PO (my favorites) and the values (solo stays are usually at that level).

 

[bookgirl]

So, just went to show mom the pics of WL. Scrolling through the pictures and room locations she was all "Wait I want a blue room". Just got off the phone with WDW. We now have a courtyard room view.

Pictures do more damage to my vacation fund. She wants to see the lake. Doesn't care about distance.

Gosh I hope the AP or Fall discounts cover this.

 

[DEDHead]

Don't show her pictures of Club Level Lounge or you'll be tapping your 401K

 

[GrandCalifornian]

So, just went to show mom the pics of WL. Scrolling through the pictures and room locations she was all "Wait I want a blue room". Just got off the phone with WDW. We now have a courtyard room view.

Pictures do more damage to my vacation fund. She wants to see the lake. Doesn't care about distance.

Gosh I hope the AP or Fall discounts cover this.

Sounds like fun! For Courtyard view, to see the lake you will want to request inner courtyard view to avoid those rooms in the South wing that face towards the Villas courtyard.
Your location preference can still be the same otherwise, and you likely still won't have a long walk to anywhere.
Good luck with funding this endeavor, that will be the hard part.

 

[thewilderness3]

Getting ready to spend 10 days at The Lodge, and was hoping someone could give me info on the pool hours. Is night swimming a thing of the past? One of our favorite things to do as a family was take a swim after a midnight closing of Magic Kingdom.

 

[bookgirl]

Don't show her pictures of Club Level Lounge or you'll be tapping your 401K

Sounds like fun! For Courtyard view, to see the lake you will want to request inner courtyard view to avoid those rooms in the South wing that face towards the Villas courtyard.
Your location preference can still be the same otherwise, and you likely still won't have a long walk to anywhere.
Good luck with funding this endeavor, that will be the hard part.

Well luckily she thinks the club level is overpriced. (Looked at it when we stayed BC a few years back).

And luckily for me I tend to keep the vacation account padded.

She liked the pictures, and view, so much that she is saying she would rather a discounted room at WL then free dining at POR, which was what I was going to switch to if it was offered.

 

[4disneygenerations]

We have two rooms booked at the WL Both are woods view with a north wing request. I was just pricing a courtyard view for same time with same discount, it is only a $74.00 difference. I am looking for opinions, is the courtyard view much better or not too different? Thank you

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

It's such a sweet thread!! I agree, you will love WL!!!

This

I have to agree, this is a sweet thread and helped to sway me in booking WL. I originally had BWI CL booked for our July trip but my DD11 wants to do "different things besides going to the parks" as she put it. I browsed this treasure of a thread and saw all the activities such as horseback riding, archery and bike riding at the campground and showed her the pictures. She was even excited about the prospect of playing checkers in the Carolwood Pacific room at the villas - so I switched to WL CL. I was excited to stay at BWI to be within walking distance to Epcot and HS but I am equally excited to stay at WL. I think this will be a different trip for us - more focused on relaxing and trying new activities and not so much about the parks.
I've made reservations for Hoop Dee Doo (1st time experiencing it) and also the archery at FW, and I want to do the tour of the lodge.
Let me know if there are other not to miss experiences that you've enjoyed doing as we'll.
WDWKOOK, thank you for such an informative and welcoming thread! I've learned so much and appreciate the time you've invested in it, now sign me up for the Lodgers Log July 19-27 please. : I can't wait!

 

[wiserabbit]

Just booked a kinda last minute trip for June - courtyard view - it will be our second time to stay at WL - and we are looking forward to relaxing by the pool and hanging out at the resort for some R&R.

How has the bus service been lately to HS? DH always wants to avoid the bus if possible - but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow

Enjoying all the great info - and tips - thanks to all for their input

 

[Koh1977]

Where does the archery take place? Jessie - do you sign up for a certain time then?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[JessietheNCCowgirl]

Where does the archery take place? Jessie - do you sign up for a certain time then?

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Hi, the archery takes place at the fort wilderness campground, which is from what I understand approx. a 20-minute walk or a boat ride away from WL.
Here is the information from allears.net:


Archery Experience: Whether novice or expert marksman, an archery guide at the Bike Barn offers training and tips on how to hit the bulls-eye with a Compound Bow. Open to resort guests and non-guests alike, ages 7 and up, the 90-minute experience costs $39 (plus tax) per person, includes equipment and instruction and can be booked up to 90 days in advance by calling 407/939-7529. Credit card information is due at the time of booking. Walk ups are accepted. Offered Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons from 2:45 - 4:15pm; the class has a maximum number of 10 people.

 

[Koh1977]

Hi, the archery takes place at the fort wilderness campground, which is from what I understand approx. a 20-minute walk or a boat ride away from WL. Here is the information from allears.net: Archery Experience: Whether novice or expert marksman, an archery guide at the Bike Barn offers training and tips on how to hit the bulls-eye with a Compound Bow. Open to resort guests and non-guests alike, ages 7 and up, the 90-minute experience costs $39 (plus tax) per person, includes equipment and instruction and can be booked up to 90 days in advance by calling 407/939-7529. Credit card information is due at the time of booking. Walk ups are accepted. Offered Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoons from 2:45 - 4:15pm; the class has a maximum number of 10 people.

Thanks for the info.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[BlueFairy]

...DD11 wants to do "different things besides going to the parks" as she put it. I browsed this treasure of a thread and saw all the activities such as horseback riding, archery and bike riding at the campground and showed her the pictures. She was even excited about the prospect of playing checkers in the Carolwood Pacific room at the villas - so I switched to WL CL. I was excited to stay at BWI to be within walking distance to Epcot and HS but I am equally excited to stay at WL. I think this will be a different trip for us - more focused on relaxing and trying new activities and not so much about the parks. ...

I was listening to the most recent DISUnplugged podcast about the little details at WDW and kept remembering our downtime at the Lodge. Finally I just called and priced a 3 night last hurrah for summer before school starts. Mainly for just this - I want to spend time at the pool and enjoying the Lodge. My DDs love "the hotel" on any vacation so much that I'm pretty sure they'll agree. Plus, I'm over fighting crowds in the parks. Personally I'd be happy skipping the parks, but I think I'd have a revolt on my hands. I think we may spend 1 day, or maybe 1 1/2 at most doing a few things in the parks. I'm finally realizing that we're paying for this fabulous resort, so let's plan time to enjoy it.

Thanks for reminding me of the wonderful activities at FW. I also think it's fun to take time to ride over and eat at CR, followed by a little shopping in the concourse.

As for other activities, don't forget the guided activities by the pool staff. DD loved the pool games every afternoon last time. And if it's raining they try to get games going in the lobby. We didn't go to the Cub's Den (is that what the childcare area is called?), but they used to have family crafts in the afternoons. And there's the arcade. In fact, all this extra activity discussion is making me rethink that 2nd park day!

 

[Wood Nymph]

This

I have to agree, this is a sweet thread and helped to sway me in booking WL. I originally had BWI CL booked for our July trip but my DD11 wants to do "different things besides going to the parks" as she put it. I browsed this treasure of a thread and saw all the activities such as horseback riding, archery and bike riding at the campground and showed her the pictures. She was even excited about the prospect of playing checkers in the Carolwood Pacific room at the villas - so I switched to WL CL. I was excited to stay at BWI to be within walking distance to Epcot and HS but I am equally excited to stay at WL. I think this will be a different trip for us - more focused on relaxing and trying new activities and not so much about the parks.
I've made reservations for Hoop Dee Doo (1st time experiencing it) and also the archery at FW, and I want to do the tour of the lodge.
Let me know if there are other not to miss experiences that you've enjoyed doing as we'll.
WDWKOOK, thank you for such an informative and welcoming thread! I've learned so much and appreciate the time you've invested in it, now sign me up for the Lodgers Log July 19-27 please. : I can't wait!

WL is perfect for a relaxing visit. That is why we love it.

Some ideas:

- there is cookie decorating on Saturday afternoon in the Roaring forks dining room

- rent one of those small boats and take it all over Bay Lake and Seven Seas lagoon - it is so much fun for kids, especially

- look for Hidden Mickeys at the resort - there is a list available at the front desk

- explore the resort and villas building - the tour will show you some of these places but you won't really have time during the tour to read all the display information. There are a lot of artifacts on each of the floors in the WL and some small lounges with cute firescreens.

It is very easy to resort hop the monorail resorts from the WL. Just take the boat to CR. It is also very easy to go back and forth to the MK.

Getting ready to spend 10 days at The Lodge, and was hoping someone could give me info on the pool hours. Is night swimming a thing of the past? One of our favorite things to do as a family was take a swim after a midnight closing of Magic Kingdom.

The pool hours change according to the season, so I'm not sure what they will be when you are there. But I believe that they are closing the pools at night for safety reasons.

We have two rooms booked at the WL Both are woods view with a north wing request. I was just pricing a courtyard view for same time with same discount, it is only a $74.00 difference. I am looking for opinions, is the courtyard view much better or not too different? Thank you

This is one of those things that only you can decide. You can check out the pictures posted in this thread and in this one:

Wilderness Lodge Photo Thread

 

[WDWKOOK]

Spring Break prep. has gotten me waaaaaay behind here. Thank you so much to all the amazing posters who are so quick to answer questions
​

We just checked in to the resort and our room isn't ready. So we are relaxing in the lobby. What gorgeous and detailed fireplace doors!!

Happy anniversary and I hope the rest of your stay was wonderful and you got to do more exploring.

Where in the world have you been?

Just got home from a 5 day stay at the lodge. In executive Summary format.

• Room 5132 is Awesome. Right next to the villa side back elevator. Quiet; beautiful view; easy backdoor to the bus area and quiet pool. A room warning...if you are travelling as only 2, you will get booked into a king size bed room, usually a handicapped room. We had to work the front desk pretty hard to fix that when checking in.
  
• FP+ was a great success for us. True we'd like more than three and like multi-park capability, but all in all it worked great. Really liked the easy update if your FP ride has a short stand by line. Move the FP to another ride and use standby instead of wasting a FP. All issues we saw were user error. coming too early, coming too late, or really not having a FP at all.
  
• Meals were great. BOG for lunch was awesome. La Hacienda was phenomenal...including front row for Illuminations. Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare was quite tasty. Liberty Tree dinner was delicious as expected.
  
• Transportation was super. Never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus. Seemed to have a boat pulling up every time we hit the dock.
  
• I'll call the crowds moderately crowded. Stand by lines were OK, with the only long lines at Peter PAN, space Mtn, Soarin', and Toy Story. Even got to ride Everest twice in a 20 minute span.

All in all a great success. A very detailed trip report will start tomorrow (Kook...do you want the TR here or in the TR forum ?)

We'd love the TR here, but if you have lots of photos, you should probably put it in the TR forum. Please post the link here so we can all find it.

Thank you for whetting our TR appetite with a preview of your report. Did you book a BB?

Hi all!

We have never stayed at WL before, and are about to book a studio ay VWL using points. Can someone just confirm for me that in fact the renovated studios do sleep 5? we have three young kids with us.

Also, does anyone have pics of the renovated rooms?

thanks so much

Welcome! There is a link in Post #2 to the new VWL photos. Did you book yet?

Currently it is 9:35 PM but it may change seasonally and is announced on the monthly activities calendar that Kook links to from the second post.

It's always 9:35 year 'round. It can be canceled though due to inclement weather.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkk. So we hopped the Blue flag boat and found ourselves back at WL. 2 Standard rooms...both budget and my love for the Lodge brought me back. Good news is DH is happy and excited It must be the savings... Although I will miss CL, we will be out and about at the pool and the parks. I still get the resort I wanted for my 40th so it's all good. I really hope we get the connecting rooms..that's my only concern...

Howdy, baaaaaaacccccccccckkkkkkkk! Are you still back or have you gone forth to another resort yet?

Just made my reservations today to stay at the WL!!! I am so excited! This thread was part of the reason I chose this resort. It looks awesome. We'll be there Nov 5-12.

Congratulations and I'll add you to the Lodgers' Log. You're going to LOVE WL!

It's such a sweet thread!! I agree, you will love WL!!!

Still just a short boat ride or two from the Poly so all is good!

Poly? What's that?

Checking in - maybe. I'm holding on to a WL ressie for August. Woods view on the summer savings rate for 3 nights. Haven't been to the Lodge since 2010. Missing that pool!!!!

Anyway, just wanted to say "hi" and get my subscription going.

Any issues at WL in August? Refurb etc?

Thanks!

Welcome and you're good to go for August. The WL rehab was completed in 2012 and VWL last month.

I've subbed in. Looking at WL for my Oct trip. (have a standard booked at the moment).


We are not much for the balcony so I'm not too worried about view. However, we will be doing Epcot for F&W.

I'm guessing I don't want to request close to lobby but maybe close to boat dock?

Thinking close to food and close to dock are not possible?

We probably will bus over to AK and DHS one day but MK and Epcot will be the ones we hit the most.

Any of you WL alumni have suggestions.

We are also not pool people so we won't care if we are not easy access to that.

Welcome! RF is in the North Wing and that wing is closest to the boats. But really, I have never felt like anything is that far away at WL. The higher SV rooms in the North Wing have a partial view of Wishes. The SV rooms are the furthest, however, from the dock, but they aren't really very far.

Getting ready to spend 10 days at The Lodge, and was hoping someone could give me info on the pool hours. Is night swimming a thing of the past? One of our favorite things to do as a family was take a swim after a midnight closing of Magic Kingdom.

The Quiet Pools are still open at night. Any WDW pool that has lifeguards now closes when the lifeguards leave. This can vary from 10-11 depending on the season. The schedule is the same for the hot tubs that are next to guarded pools. VWL is not impacted by this and the hours remain (though it isn't monitored):

We have two rooms booked at the WL Both are woods view with a north wing request. I was just pricing a courtyard view for same time with same discount, it is only a $74.00 difference. I am looking for opinions, is the courtyard view much better or not too different? Thank you

We love the Inner or WL CV rooms because Bay Lake is our favorite view at WDW. With a WV, you have to be willing to risk not being in the North Wing. You should ask yourself if you'd be happy facing VWL. With the CV, though it isn't guaranteed, it's more likely that you will face the WL courtyard and not VWL, if you request that.

This

I have to agree, this is a sweet thread and helped to sway me in booking WL. I originally had BWI CL booked for our July trip but my DD11 wants to do "different things besides going to the parks" as she put it. I browsed this treasure of a thread and saw all the activities such as horseback riding, archery and bike riding at the campground and showed her the pictures. She was even excited about the prospect of playing checkers in the Carolwood Pacific room at the villas - so I switched to WL CL. I was excited to stay at BWI to be within walking distance to Epcot and HS but I am equally excited to stay at WL. I think this will be a different trip for us - more focused on relaxing and trying new activities and not so much about the parks.
I've made reservations for Hoop Dee Doo (1st time experiencing it) and also the archery at FW, and I want to do the tour of the lodge.
Let me know if there are other not to miss experiences that you've enjoyed doing as we'll.
WDWKOOK, thank you for such an informative and welcoming thread! I've learned so much and appreciate the time you've invested in it, now sign me up for the Lodgers Log July 19-27 please. I can't wait!

Thank you for your sweet post and I'm happy that you've found the thread helpful. Have you considered a split stay with BWI? We've done that and are booked again in June for a BWI/WL split. We like to stay about half the amount of time at BWI Vs. WL and that gives us the chance to walk to Epcot and DHS. You're going to just love WL-CL!

Just booked a kinda last minute trip for June - courtyard view - it will be our second time to stay at WL - and we are looking forward to relaxing by the pool and hanging out at the resort for some R&R.

How has the bus service been lately to HS? DH always wants to avoid the bus if possible - but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow

Enjoying all the great info - and tips - thanks to all for their input

Welcome to the thread. The buses going to the parks always take longer than returning, except for MK which is always 5 mins. If you usually go only once to DHS, it's not a big deal at all. It does stop at GF and takes about 25 mins. to get there and about 15 minutes to return. Bus travel time estimates are posted HERE, thanks to Grand Californian.