We had a fabulous time at the WL and enjoyed the CL again. We do enjoy the extra perks and think it's worth it. Below is a summary of our trip relating to WL. Even though I list some cons or things that seem negative, they aren't really complaints and didn't take away from the enjoyment, I'm just noting them for informational purposes. This was our best trip, for many reasons so again nothing below is meant as a true "complaint". It was our first trip back in 4 years.
We got room 7043 which is all the way at the end on the north wing which was what we requested. It is a bunk bed room facing the inner courtyard.
Pros:
- Closest room to the elevator that goes down by Roaring Forks, thus quickest access to the boat dock (and obviously RF)
- Quiet, since it is on the end
- No shared balcony
- Nice view of the waterfall (although like all CL rooms, this is mitigated by the solid wall that you can't see through when you are sitting down). Kids had to climb on chairs to see out
Cons:
- Farthest room from the lounge. If you are making a lot of trips back and forth to the lounge, it's a good deal of walking (comparitively speaking of course)
- Farthest room from the main lobby and busses. If you are heading anywhere to the south wing you are the farthest away. If you are taking the boats to the MK, TTC, or Contemporary, the room is the closest. If you are driving your car or taking a bus, the room is the farthest.
- You are unable to see the last 3 or 4 boats of the Electric Water Parade because of the angle of the room (blocked by trees)
Also, while you can't see the MK fireworks directly from the balcony since you are facing the pool, you are just a few short steps to the end of the hallway by the elevator where you can open the shutters and look out the window to see them just the same as everyone else that is facing the MK. It's just as good in my opinion especially since you can situate yourself perfectly to not be blocked by the trees.
Cast Members - Check in was easy as always and it seemed to be the same crew for the beginning part of the week. The women were much more friendly and knowledgeable than the guys. The guys would give the courtesy hello, but the women also were more likely to try to have a conversation and especially talk to our kids. Gianna in particular was one CM who really stood out. She was fantastic. So was Bonnie. Unfortunately they didn't seem to be there toward the end of the week when it seemed to be a different crew almost every day which made it hard to have a rapport with any of them like we had in the beginning of the trip.
Mercantile - Not their fault but every year we go during December and every year it's the same thing - the WL shirts are always sold out in XL and a lot of the 2012 merchandise is gone and replaced with 2013 stuff. Of course they always give me the shirt id code and give me a phone number to call to try to order it but they said people are constantly asking for the shirts yet they hadn't had them in that size for months. I don't understand why their merchandising dept. hasn't figured out the problem after all these years.
WCC - We did this for dinner on our anniversary. I ordered a custom cake from Brian at the Contemporary (which was AWESOME) to be delivered after dinner. The DW and kids were thoroughly surprised and everyone kept coming over to look at it. I guess they changed the menu since we were last there because now it's just one flat price for a skillet of various meats. It was OK, but we weren't overly impressed. We did enjoy the ketchup thing and everyone singing to us for our anniversary, but for the price we didn't think it was worth it. We wouldn't go back again.
Roaring Forks - We were hoping to get some new WL all you can drink cups, but didn't like the look of the new ones so we passed on that. The food there seemed much better than the last time from what we remember. There was a panini sandwich we had that was really good. One night the chef special was a buffalo chicken flatbread pizza - that was out of this world! Even though we only went there a few times because of all the free food on the CL, I would give it a thumbs up. The selection and food quality seemed much better than in years past.
Lounge food - Pretty much all the breakfast/snack/dinner/dessert stuff was what we remember so it doesn't seem like they changed much over the years. It seemed the cordial selection was a little less than what I remember. The one thing I wish they'd improve is the desserts. It's always a cobbler (berry, apple, or apple+berry), brownies, magick bars, and chocolate chip cookies. I can't believe they can't change that up somehow. The cobbler is great because they are always changing it, but I wish they had a better variety of the other treats. By the end of the week even my two young kids were asking if they had anything else because they were burned out on the cookies (and that is saying something). If only they would serve ice cream with that cobbler... Kook you need to put in a request for that.
Mousekeeping - Being at the end of the hall meant our room got cleaned last, which worked out good especially for the days we wanted to sleep in. Every day they left neat little towel animals and the big treat coming home from a day at the park was the kids being excited to see how they arranged all the stuffed animals we had bought. They usually had the TV turned on with everyone snuggled up together on the bed and Mickey holding the remote. Every day was something different so it was just a nice little added surprise every day to look forward to.
Buses and boats ran quick. We didn't really have to wait long for anything. I'm not sure the purpose of sharing a bus going to Blizzard Beach and Animal Kingdom since no one was going to Blizzard Beach. Maybe it makes more sense in the summer.
We did hit the pool one afternoon and it was nice because it wasn't too crowded. One of the lifeguards told us that our youngest one looked to be struggling a little bit coming off the slide and swimming to the other side. He said he was looking tired and would have to wear a life jacket if he continued to look tired. Mainly this was from him being lazy and not swimming the way he should and not being in the pool for several months. Once we told him he'd have to put one on, he did much better. We appreciated that the life guard was attentive enough to keep an eye on him to remark on that and thanked him. They seemed very attentive at the pool, perhaps because there were so few people there that it was easy to keep an eye on everyone. I can't imagine what it would be like over the summer.
It did seem more crowded at the Lodge than in previous years and when I asked they said there were only 1 or 2 rooms open so I guess that's why discounts seem harder and harder to come by and the secret is out about how great the WL is during the holidays.
IMHO there just isn't a comparison to WL especially during the holidays. Nothing is a close second. It was a magical stay as always mostly thanks to rubbing Humprey's nose at the start of our visit to ensure the magic follows us around.
If anyone has any questions let me know.
Love the pics... Water looks so calm.....
Makes me want to be there...
)
. A soft serve machine sure would be nice (heck, I'd like one in my room!), but like the one down in RF, I imagine it could get messy fast
. Variety is the spice of life and I'm all for mixin' up those CL desserts a bit, too. CL fare is fine for a few days, but when you stay a long time, it can get old fast.
to the DIS and the WL/VWL thread! What an amazing surprise! Santa outdid himself this year
. Your family is going to love WL
. Yes, we are crazy. I am freaking out. This entire time I have planned our trip based around our stay at POR, I knew which was the best bus stop to use, what the fastest way to get to the lobby etc. I have never stayed at Wilderness Lodge before let alone a deluxe. I have no idea what I am in for! I have been thrown for a loop ever since we changed our ressies for WL a couple of hours ago. What are the basic things I need to know about this resort? I am going to try to read back as much as I can through this thread. Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated!
