(CLOSED) Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS Information Thread

[nathanyell]

That's right - thanks for mentioning that!

Only two more days - are you packed?

Packed last night. Our flight is at 6:20 am out of BWI. So I doubt we'll get much sleep tonight. LOL!

We're taking our first stab at switching resorts this Feb, with WL being our final resort. We've stayed at WL before , but never used the services relating to switching, so was hoping someone could help with a few questions.

DH will be at a conference all day the day we switch, so while he's gone I was planning on having bell services pick up our bags at our original resort (BC), and traveling over to WL alone to check us in. Since odds are pretty strong by the time he gets out of his meetings, I will still be at a park, can he pick up his own room key at the front desk if I've already been checked in? Any potential problems?

Also, anyone know about how long it will usually take before our bags make it to WL? I know it's variable, but I'm not sure if on average we're talking an hour or six hours.

Thanks for your help Looking forward to seeing this lovely resort again!

I gave them my luggage first thing in the morning at CSR and it was at WL when I went to check in at 4.

Brian

 

[2girlsR2good]

We're here now!!

Checked in yesterday, having already done online checkin. No wait at all. Got to our room and saw that we had one of those balconies that are closed in. Didn't let the kids touch anything and went straight back down. Used my most polite manners and explained that for a courtyard view room, I needed all of our party members to have the view. Since that would require the kids to stand on the chairs, clearly unsafe, could we please move? Got a new room right away. 2nd floor looking at pool and right next to the stairs to the path to the boat. Perfect for us!

One tip for anyone coming soon. Special visitors will begin appearing in the lobby on the 19th for photos and such. I think it is 6 to 9, but I'm not sure about the times. They will also have choral groups performing in the lobby, and while they are singing, the antics in WCC are toned down.

Brought my own dark roast pods for the coffee maker (senseo brand) and that worked out well.

It's gorgeous here!!!!

We are off to Epcot!

 

[WDWKOOK]

We're here now!!

Checked in yesterday, having already done online checkin. No wait at all. Got to our room and saw that we had one of those balconies that are closed in. Didn't let the kids touch anything and went straight back down. Used my most polite manners and explained that for a courtyard view room, I needed all of our party members to have the view. Since that would require the kids to stand on the chairs, clearly unsafe, could we please move? Got a new room right away. 2nd floor looking at pool and right next to the stairs to the path to the boat. Perfect for us!

One tip for anyone coming soon. Special visitors will begin appearing in the lobby on the 19th for photos and such. I think it is 6 to 9, but I'm not sure about the times. They will also have choral groups performing in the lobby, and while they are singing, the antics in WCC are toned down.

Brought my own dark roast pods for the coffee maker (senseo brand) and that worked out well.

It's gorgeous here!!!!

We are off to Epcot!

Great hearing from you LIVE! I've always found the WL Room Assignors to be very accommodating. I'm glad you spoke up and you're now pleased with your room and balcony.

I just added a day up front to our Spring Break visit so we'll be there one day sooner - albeit very tired since we'll be driving about 14 hours straight - but it's worth it!

Have a great time in Epcot. Do you have an ADR there?

 

[Sue M]

We're here now!!

Checked in yesterday, having already done online checkin. No wait at all. Got to our room and saw that we had one of those balconies that are closed in. Didn't let the kids touch anything and went straight back down. Used my most polite manners and explained that for a courtyard view room, I needed all of our party members to have the view. Since that would require the kids to stand on the chairs, clearly unsafe, could we please move? Got a new room right away. 2nd floor looking at pool and right next to the stairs to the path to the boat. Perfect for us!

One tip for anyone coming soon. Special visitors will begin appearing in the lobby on the 19th for photos and such. I think it is 6 to 9, but I'm not sure about the times. They will also have choral groups performing in the lobby, and while they are singing, the antics in WCC are toned down.

Brought my own dark roast pods for the coffee maker (senseo brand) and that worked out well.

It's gorgeous here!!!!

We are off to Epcot!

Enjoy your stay! We got one of those balconies too, I wanted to go down and ask for a change, but one dd liked the balcony, sigh, so I stayed put.
30 more days for me till we're there

 

[WDWKOOK]

FYI: Free WiFi is not only available at the Deluxes, DVC and CSR:

From the POFQ thread:


---Quote (Originally by Disneylvr)---
WiFi at FQ now? I hope this is true! I want to bring our iPad.
---End Quote---

Yep, it started on Thursday. Free wi-fi access in the main public areas and in guest rooms too.

Andre

 

[no capes darling]

What's the Magic Express deal for dropoffs at this resort? Is it shared with Contemporary/GF & Poly? Basically I'm playing around with changing a lunch reservation. Our flight arrives at MCO around 11:30 and am wanting to get an earlier lunch, possibly around 1:30-2PM, but don't want to push it too much. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Sue M]

What's the Magic Express deal for dropoffs at this resort? Is it shared with Contemporary/GF & Poly? Basically I'm playing around with changing a lunch reservation. Our flight arrives at MCO around 11:30 and am wanting to get an earlier lunch, possibly around 1:30-2PM, but don't want to push it too much. Any advice is appreciated.

I think so. When we stayed at Poly, there were families on the bus for WL & GF. Poly was first to be dropped off. So I'm guessing GF then WL. There were only about 5 families on the bus. I don't know if that is always the order, or it changes.

 

[dizzi]

has anyone done this?
what was your special occasion?

Has anyone asked and been denied?
Do you know why you were denied?

WE will arrive on Wednesday and we are getting married on Friday morning..
is this a special enough occasiona and if so can we ask that our friends who are also staying at the WL and are our best man and matron of honor and flower girl go up with us as well??

 

[WDWKOOK]

has anyone done this?
what was your special occasion?

Has anyone asked and been denied?
Do you know why you were denied?

WE will arrive on Wednesday and we are getting married on Friday morning..
is this a special enough occasiona and if so can we ask that our friends who are also staying at the WL and are our best man and matron of honor and flower girl go up with us as well??

I think I may have replied to you before, but I just want to reiterate that at least as of August, this was still happening, weather permitting. The manager of the resort, Bennett (it was his last day) set it up for us as a surprise, but due to thunderstorms in the area, it was canceled. He mentioned that that was the only night before we were leaving that there was availability. That leads me to believe that it is something they offer nightly.

I know that entire families participate so that aspect shouldn't be a problem. If there is lightening in the area or if they have already reached roof capacity, then that could possibly pose a problem.

I would send a fax about 5 days prior to your arrival to the resort stating basically what you've posted here in your last paragraph. Mention that you are staying at the resort and are getting married and that you would love to be able to participate in the Wishes rooftop viewing. Include your phone number, email and confirmation number and the number of guests you would like to participate.The WL fax number is: (407) 824-3232.

I can't guarantee that this will help, but it certainly won't hurt! Make sure that you also ask upon check-in (if you don't get a response because of your fax).

Good luck and congratulations! Let us know how everything goes.

 

[dizzi]

sorry

i think i did ask once somewhere but wasnt sure how specific i had asked

I obviously have alot on my mind

trying to prepare for the wedding which is a secret and the cruise is a secret isnt easy in itself with a house full of a bunch of nosey teen agers...

But with Christmas coming at least i havebeen able to snag boxes from the ups man saying they were for christmas.....wont they be disapointed christmas morning

 

[Sue M]

Thanks for reminding me about the Fireworks rooftop! I had completely forgotten. We've stayed at WL twice before and never heard about it.
Must remember to ask at check in

 

[nathanyell]

Back from our quick trip to WL.

The crowds were crazy! but that just made us stay in the Lodge more! The princess did surprisingly well. We didn't do any pics with characters, but probably will in the future.

Got a "bear face" room, which is incredible during christmas. Opening the room door and seeing the tree was so special.

I don't think I would ever go this close to christmas again.

My brother and family stayed at AKL and had quite an issue with Housekeeping not cleeaning the room and an arguement with a cm at the concierge desk. It was not a good beginning of a trip for them. The really bad thing was that the housekeeping manager was suppose to check in to what happened and get back to my brother, but that never happened. Customer service over there seems to have really slipped. I hope it's better for when we go in January.

Brian

 

[CAJUNWDWFAN]

Thanks for reminding me about the Fireworks rooftop! I had completely forgotten. We've stayed at WL twice before and never heard about it.
Must remember to ask at check in

Wow I didn't realize you could ask about Fireworks viewing on the rooftop.

I knew about the Flag Family, (we were chosen our last trip)

 

[Sue M]

Back from our quick trip to WL.

The crowds were crazy! but that just made us stay in the Lodge more! The princess did surprisingly well. We didn't do any pics with characters, but probably will in the future.

Got a "bear face" room, which is incredible during christmas. Opening the room door and seeing the tree was so special.

I don't think I would ever go this close to christmas again.

My brother and family stayed at AKL and had quite an issue with Housekeeping not cleeaning the room and an arguement with a cm at the concierge desk. It was not a good beginning of a trip for them. The really bad thing was that the housekeeping manager was suppose to check in to what happened and get back to my brother, but that never happened. Customer service over there seems to have really slipped. I hope it's better for when we go in January.

Brian

glad you had a good stay at WL, and a Bear Face room! Wow.
Sorry about your brothers stay at AKL. haven't stayed in AKL for awhile, but we had very good service there. Kidani wasn't quiet open yet when we were there.

 

[nkereina]

Back from our quick trip to WL.

The crowds were crazy! but that just made us stay in the Lodge more! The princess did surprisingly well. We didn't do any pics with characters, but probably will in the future.

Got a "bear face" room, which is incredible during christmas. Opening the room door and seeing the tree was so special.

I don't think I would ever go this close to christmas again.

My brother and family stayed at AKL and had quite an issue with Housekeeping not cleeaning the room and an arguement with a cm at the concierge desk. It was not a good beginning of a trip for them. The really bad thing was that the housekeeping manager was suppose to check in to what happened and get back to my brother, but that never happened. Customer service over there seems to have really slipped. I hope it's better for when we go in January.

Brian

Curious as to what dates you were there? We are thinking about staying at WL this time next year, but would like to avoid the crowds...

Sorry to hear what happenbed to your brother!!

 

[Miffy]

Until the poster-in-question replies, I thought I'd chime in. We were at WL from Sunday 12/11 through Saturday 12/17. During the beginning of our stay, the parks were just fine. There seemed to be a lot of people, but the wait times were small or nonexistent and there were FPs for everything else. On a beautiful sunny day, we rode KRR 2x in a row--zero wait.

On the 16th (Friday), we got to DHS about 2:30 in the afternoon, the FPs for TSM were already gone, and there were so many people in the park that we ended up having lunch and then leaving. I couldn't imagine staying for the lights that evening. It was really difficult just walking around. (And I'm a New York City girl!)

On the 17th (Saturday), we were at DAK, where the crowd levels were not bad at all, but there were suddenly TONS of people at WL. We could really feel the difference from earlier in the week.

HTH.

 

[nathanyell]

We were only there from 12/16 to 12/19. So the crowds did pick up that weekend quite a bit. On monday tha 19th we did not see them slow down, so I would assume the week will be the same to worse.

I've been earlier in December with no issue. I think even a week earier would have been much better. Though at check-in we learned that WL has been at 100% occuppancy since early November.

Hope this helps!

Brian

 

[WDWKOOK]

Some beautiful Christmas photos have been posted to the WL photo thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=43514207#post43514207

Back from our quick trip to WL.

The crowds were crazy! but that just made us stay in the Lodge more! The princess did surprisingly well. We didn't do any pics with characters, but probably will in the future.

Got a "bear face" room, which is incredible during christmas. Opening the room door and seeing the tree was so special.

I don't think I would ever go this close to christmas again.

My brother and family stayed at AKL and had quite an issue with Housekeeping not cleeaning the room and an arguement with a cm at the concierge desk. It was not a good beginning of a trip for them. The really bad thing was that the housekeeping manager was suppose to check in to what happened and get back to my brother, but that never happened. Customer service over there seems to have really slipped. I hope it's better for when we go in January.

Brian

That was quick - good thing you're returning soon! I wonder if the December crowds contributed to the bad service your brother experienced. It can be overwhelming this time of the year with such high capacity levels. No excuse though for housekeeping not doing their job

 

[nathanyell]

Yeah this was a quick trip to celebrate my nephews 18th birthday.

Hoping the crowds will be much lessin 3 weeks!

Brian

 

[pas130]

But I need to come back and say hi, we are booked for April

DISCLAIMER...I am a resort changer, this is subject to change at any time, and I usually say it's my last change....I am nervous that the WL IPO doesn't even take me seriously anymore

Right now I am checking out all the resort activities...and teaking some ADRs. We have 2 rooms CL booked with the Spring Discount. I already have had a great experience, when calling for availabilty today, there were no CL rooms available. There was a Deluxe room with the discount available, but the CM wasn't sure about what rooms connect so she called the resort directly. Then she came back asking if CL was a must (for my little princesses...it is ), so I said if it's an issue just leave my reservation as it is for BC. After going back on hold (for quite awhile but all good) she came back and said, we worked a little magic and booked you into 2 discount CL rooms

So I have my Christmas gift from WDW ....now to re-read the thread...Thanks for having me back!!!