(CLOSED) Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS INFORMATION THREAD ~2014~

[cincygirl]

I have been following this thread for almost a year. Thank you for all of the great information.

My family and I will be making our first visit to Wilderness Lodge June 6-13. I know my two year old twins will love the new splash area and the boat ride to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[trishadono]

Just had cobbler with Circus girl

So fun to meet up! This is the first my dd has met someone that knew more about Disney than her

Dd and I have tried the mono CLs and this one has such friendly CMs! Many choices for appetizers. Her only complaint is the desserts. However trying to compare to gf's desserts is hard to do(cough cough scone addiction)

Have to say the bus service here has been good. The busses just are not crowded like I am used to.


Grabbed lunch at roaring forks today. (Friendly staff)Wilderness salad is my favorite

I have also noticed a friendliness around the other guests compared to gf/cr/poly. I have not had the complaint issue that you can't help but overhear. Everyone is happy and relaxed.... As it should be

I am up at 4a for 5a ME but am glad to have had this time with dd before the next semester starts in a few days and to meet a disboard friend too was the cherry on top!!!

 

[pixarmom]

Just had cobbler with Circus girl

So fun to meet up! This is the first my dd has met someone that knew more about Disney than her

Dd and I have tried the mono CLs and this one has such friendly CMs! Many choices for appetizers. Her only complaint is the desserts. However trying to compare to gf's desserts is hard to do(cough cough scone addiction)

Have to say the bus service here has been good. The busses just are not crowded like I am used to.


Grabbed lunch at roaring forks today. (Friendly staff)Wilderness salad is my favorite

I have also noticed a friendliness around the other guests compared to gf/cr/poly. I have not had the complaint issue that you can't help but overhear. Everyone is happy and relaxed.... As it should be

I am up at 4a for 5a ME but am glad to have had this time with dd before the next semester starts in a few days and to meet a disboard friend too was the cherry on top!!!

Sounds like a great vibe at WL - we're so excited! Agree it's hard to compare to GF desserts. We stayed RPC before my husband joined us and one night I just took a photo of the four dessert plates we brought back to our room - too much and very yummy! Actually, my favorite are the jam tarts. I remember seeing those in a review once wondering what could be so great about some jam in a tart . . . but now I know!

Silly question - my favorite part of evening appetizers is the cheese, but I've seen a few too many cheese cubes in CL lounges lately - even GF. (AKL and BWI offer some great non-cube cheeses.) Did you notice what WL provides?

 

[danikoski]

So here at the WL now on our Disneymoon. Had a bit of a rocky start. Checked in and ended up with a VWL studio without a balcony. I wasn't very happy because one of the reasons I picked a deluxe resort was for the balcony, especially this deluxe resort. We got there late (8:30 or so), so we decided to keep the room for the night, but went down to the front desk to see if anything else was available to move to in the morning. We were told to check back in the morning and they would probably have something. So checked back in the morning, originally told that only ground floor studios were available for our length of stay and they faced the walk way. Then they offered a courtyard view room towards the end of the northwings, and they would reimburse my account for the difference. Well that was great! Totally fine with that, however getting magic bands and luggage sorted proved to be incredibly frustrating involving three cast members and a manager.
Craziness...but once it got sorted everything turned out great! Room is lovely (2 queens) and the balcony is fabulous...listening to the waterfall and birds right now
We did wait a while for the bus to HS on Tue...from listening to the bus driver, something had happened, not sure what, but something. HS was great fun, and my first time visitor husband enjoyed Star Tours greatly. I rode the Tower of Terror for the first time (I've been to DW 10 times this visit). It was a great ride, until the fourth drop, and then I was kind of over it...and I was a little worried I was going to lose my voice from screaming
We did a boat to Epcot from HS for snacks in WS and then monorail to MK and then boat back to WL. My DH LOVED all the different kinds of transportation...he was like a little kid riding the monorail...to the point that he wants to go to all the monorail resorts using the monorail and see if they smell as good as the WL
Hoop Dee Do was wonderful as usual and I think I ate a loaf of the cornbread on my own
Yesterday was beach day, rented a car and went to Caspersen beach to look for sharks teeth, found some and had a lovely, beautiful sunny day. Picked up dinner from Roaring Fork (okay, I picked up a smores cupcake since we had a late lunch) and watched the EWP from our balcony. Great fun!
So after a bumpy start, everything worked out in the end. Yesterday, turned on the radio in the rental car and the song on was Don't Worry, Be Happy...Perfect! Can't wait for another great day today

 

[Wood Nymph]

So here at the WL now on our Disneymoon. Had a bit of a rocky start. Checked in and ended up with a VWL studio without a balcony. I wasn't very happy because one of the reasons I picked a deluxe resort was for the balcony, especially this deluxe resort. We got there late (8:30 or so), so we decided to keep the room for the night, but went down to the front desk to see if anything else was available to move to in the morning. We were told to check back in the morning and they would probably have something. So checked back in the morning, originally told that only ground floor studios were available for our length of stay and they faced the walk way. Then they offered a courtyard view room towards the end of the northwings, and they would reimburse my account for the difference. Well that was great! Totally fine with that, however getting magic bands and luggage sorted proved to be incredibly frustrating involving three cast members and a manager.
Craziness...but once it got sorted everything turned out great! Room is lovely (2 queens) and the balcony is fabulous...listening to the waterfall and birds right now

I'm glad that you had a good outcome to your rocky start. Your new room sounds like it is in a nice location.

 

[Circusgirl]

Circus girl- love your photos! The WL is a photographer's dream, except for the lighting sometimes which can be tricky. (apparently not for you!) No way those are iPhone pix- what kind of camera do you use?

Reading about the Territory Lounge reminded me of how happy I was that we made time for it on our last night this past summer. I think once you have gone there, it becomes a must-do!

Loving all the reports and reading about current and upcoming trips. I may even try CL someday!

I use a Nikon D700. I have a wide angle lens that has an aperture down to 1.4 which I used for some of the shots. The wide aperture helps a lot with the lighting here.

CL is dreamy. The CMs are outstanding, the lounge is peaceful and beautiful and the food is wonderful. I'm incredibly glad I decided to upgrade at the last minute. Although I have loved my other CL stays at the Poly and GF, there is something extra relaxed and sweet about the CL at WL.

Just had cobbler with Circus girl

So fun to meet up! This is the first my dd has met someone that knew more about Disney than her

Dd and I have tried the mono CLs and this one has such friendly CMs! Many choices for appetizers. Her only complaint is the desserts. However trying to compare to gf's desserts is hard to do(cough cough scone addiction)

Have to say the bus service here has been good. The busses just are not crowded like I am used to.

Grabbed lunch at roaring forks today. (Friendly staff)Wilderness salad is my favorite

I have also noticed a friendliness around the other guests compared to gf/cr/poly. I have not had the complaint issue that you can't help but overhear. Everyone is happy and relaxed.... As it should be

I am up at 4a for 5a ME but am glad to have had this time with dd before the next semester starts in a few days and to meet a disboard friend too was the cherry on top!!!

I miss you guys! It was super fun to spend time with you here, and I hope we get to do it again some day!

The dessert choices are the most limited here of the CLs that I've tried, but the cobbler is so fantastic that I don't miss the other desserts at all. Tea time at the Grand is one of my favorite parts of their CL service but I would wind up looking like Baymax if I had access to scones and jam tarts every trip, not to mention the Devonshire cream.

I'm glad that you had a good outcome to your rocky start. My daughter and family checked into the WL last night, too, around 8pm, and they were given a standard view room. They paid for woods view and the reason I convinced her to get woods view instead of standard was I didn't want her to get the loading dock view. Well, that was exactly what she got. I felt really bad for her. They had a long travel day with airport delays and to be given that room is just plain wrong.

I will report back with the outcome of the wrong room story when I find out what she decides to do about it.

So sorry your daughter had a bad room assignment. I've never heard of a room downgrade before! Hopefully by now everything is sorted out.

 

[Wood Nymph]

So sorry your daughter had a bad room assignment. I've never heard of a room downgrade before! Hopefully by now everything is sorted out.

I was wrong. It is a woods view room. It is over the lobby and some of them are woods view and some are standard. That is how I got mixed up.

 

[BlueFairy]

I was wrong. It is a woods view room. It is over the lobby and some of them are woods view and some are standard. That is how I got mixed up.

Unfortunately that is the downside of those north side lobby rooms (Woods view). I think people in the higher floors get so caught up in seeing the monorail and the CR that they forget to mention the service court access below, even though technically the service court is to the right of the balconies.

Similarly the south lobby rooms overlook rooftops and a *tiny-but-noisy* little cart path for bell services. These are also woods view, with only 4th floor (right on the roof) being standard.

For us, the direct access to that beautiful lobby makes up for any issue with the view. Noise? That depends on how tired we are.

Personally I find the Woods View naming to be misleading, though it is definitely a step above the standard view, however slight.

 

[Apopper74]

I have a Bunk Bed Woods view booked for 11/12-11/21. Since I booked using a BB I overestimated my dates to make sure if I had to make changes its easier to remove days than try to add days. Last night I was messing around with my probable dates to get an idea of my final price and I saw something very weird. The two queens Woods view is less expensive than two queens courtyard view, yet the bunk beds woods view is more expensive than the bunk beds courtyard. Is this a mistake or is there a reason why? I figured I would ask here as these forums tend to know more than some CMs.

Also, do you recommend woods or courtyard view? It seems like the biggest advantage to woods is the possibility of getting a fireworks view if you are on a high enough floor and in the right section.

Does anyone have pictures of the new splash area for kids? So excited for this, I know my DS2 will love it.

 

[WDWKOOK]

YOUR UPDATED AND REVISED 2015 WL/VWL IS POSTED

HERE

All 23 chapters are hyperlinked in POST 1. Everyone who recently posted dates is now in the Lodgers' Log in POST 1 of the new thread. Hope to see you on the new thread.

Trisha: Thank you for posting photos and updates! It was great reading about yours and DD's first stay at WL-CL. I hope she has a great new semester and my Bikini So Teeny (nail polish, of course) is ready for spring break at CR!

Circusgirl: What wonderful photos and updates! I used your pool photo in the new thread. If you have any splash pad photos, please post them to the new thread and I will include them as well. It was great reading that you are so pleased with the OFC. Your observations are spot on and I hope you get to return someday soon.

Apopper74: Please see the new thread for a link to splash pad photos/video in the RECREATION chapter. There's no guarantee you'll get a high Woods View room in order to see some of Wishes so that is a risk. We prefer the (WL) Courtyard View because we love seeing the EWP and Bay Lake. I can't answer your question about why the CYV Bunk costs less than the WV.

danikoski: Glad you spoke up and got a room you were much happier with. I hope the rest of your Disneymoon is magical.





Please post to the new thread as this thread will be closing.



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[lovingeire]

Woo hoo! Thanks for all you do to keep us informed & connected to the Lodge