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

[padawans]

Yay!!!!!!! Good for you!! (well, once you're able to let go of one of the ressies)

I think that you can't go wrong at WL. It's the only place I've booked that I don't get that nagging feeling about, even before the refurb. It just looks sooooo relaxing and peaceful.

I am not a Poly basher...everyone has their own tastes and styles, the Poly just isn't mine....and I for one, might not mind if they made the Poly look like Aulani....because Aulani is just more my style....but if they leave the Poly the way it is, for me, it's a as simple as not staying there. I have to be careful though, Poly lovers might be

Ha ha I had to laugh when I read this. I clicked on this thread by accident. Still trying to convince yourself you don't like the Poly huh. You have only booked it like a million times. I hope you enjoy the Wl. It wasn't my cup of tea as you know. Have a great vacation.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Will do !



KOOK - I have never requested a room location before. Do I just send email to them about the room request? I already have the email they sent us for our October trip and hadn't even thought of a request for then either.

Yes, that's the easiest thing to do since the IPO is at your service! Just email them that you would like "Rehabbed or North Wing room" added to your reservation and then they will email back a confirmation to you.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Ha ha I had to laugh when I read this. I clicked on this thread by accident. Still trying to convince yourself you don't like the Poly huh. You have only booked it like a million times. I hope you enjoy the Wl. It wasn't my cup of tea as you know. Have a great vacation.

And booked out of it just as many times!!!!

A resort choice isn't supposed to give you stress. Poly does every time, cannot be denied. It's apparently not my cup of tea, and that's ok.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

Thank you for this! It is very helpful to hear from those who have stayed at both the Poly and WL. I'm sure I will love the Lodge too.



Oh my gosh, that video is too cute. Thank you for sharing. My son will be just shy of his 4th birthday and I have a feeling the boat ride may be his favorite thing too. We ordered the customized maps and each time he looks at them he points out any boats and trains

DH is really excited about WL and he hasn't been too excited about anything during this planning process. It is nice to see a glimmer of Disney excitement in his eyes.

.

What are the customized maps you refer to??

There is nothing at all, seriously, that gets DH more excited than our beloved WL! Isn't it nice to see that twinkle in their eyes!!

 

[amykay9377]

Just got off the phone with Disney about our 6/17-6/23 trip. Did some number crunching and decided that Club Level was just too hard to resist !!

This will be our first time at the WL CL and I am so excited !

We booked WL as a bounceback when we were there in April for 9/29-10/5, we can't wait!! We got Woods Bunkbed for $1700!!! However, we may have made a huge gaffe - we decided to book the cheaper room and think about CL! We want CL now, and there are none available at teh BB rate now!!
I guess I'll have to start calling every day to see if any come up as available.... grrr.

If we end up sticking with the Woods BB view, are the Woods view in the lobby area good rooms? (meaning, do they open onto the lobby with a balcony overlooking the woods?) I could handle that!

Thanks for this thread and so much info! I've subscribed and read it every day

 

[firstwdw]

The grandparents just took us to Wilderness Lodge-we absolutely loved it! Even with the sawing, hammering and fire alarm testing during our nap-everything else was more than perfect. Does anyone know any tricks or tips on how to score a room at Wilderness for a reasonable rate? How do you know when Disney runs their room specials and is it best to wait for those? We would so love to return on our own while the kids are young.

 

[tarak]

Oh my gosh, that video is too cute. Thank you for sharing. My son will be just shy of his 4th birthday and I have a feeling the boat ride may be his favorite thing too. We ordered the customized maps and each time he looks at them he points out any boats and trains that he sees.

Thanks - she was also a big fan of the bus ride to Epcot, for some reason. I'll have to remember the customized maps, too. The kids all have different interests when it comes to rides. DD9 likes the Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Tower of Terror (her favorite), that sort of thing. DD7 (the one in the video) prefers rides like It's a Small World. DS4 likes trains, cars, boats, anything like that. Except the Maelstrom. I think I'm the only one who enjoys that.

Yes, Tarak's video was cute - DD really liked that boat ride. Does your DH know about the OFC cobbler? My DH LOVES having their famous cobbler every night - it's a big draw for him - 8:00 is affectionately known as "cobbler time"

She loved the boat. She wasn't a big fan of Epcot, either. All she wanted was a toy axe from Norway. And she liked the bus ride. She's branched out a little bit, at least, in the last few years.

He does not know about the cobbler! He would get along with your DH, I think. Mention cobbler and DH's eyes sort of glaze over. Honestly, he thought the CL was the best thing about our last trip to WDW. He's not a fan of traveling that much, but he did say that he was fine with us staying at AKL any time. I'm hoping he enjoys the WL as much (and admit to thinking that DVC might not be a bad investment if he truly feels that way). I was looking at recent OFC offerings and hope they don't change much between now and January. I thought I saw someone mentioned sushi in OFC? DD9 will be in heaven if that's true.

Firstwdw, it seems like the discounts aren't great for WL right now because of the construction. We've usually gotten the best discounts in the early part of the year (January, especially, when you're not traveling over a holiday weekend). You might have a good shot next year when the refurb is done. The WDW site lists the different seasons for pricing at each resort. This is the info for WL. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/wilderness-lodge-resort/rates-rooms/

 

[firstwdw]

Trying to convince DH on a WL stay. His main thing is he loves staying at monorail resorts. I told him there's a boat here and he said the boat line always looks long. Realistically, what are my transport options not including busses and how long does it take? We would be going during low crowds most likely. Thanks.

We just returned from WL and had no problems with the boat/bus transportation at all. The boat is direct to Magic Kingdom and was never crowded (only after the wishes fireworks). If you go during the colder months though I have heard the boat can be cold. We were there when it was in the 90's and we welcomed being outside and the breeze off the lake-the views of MK and also WL from the boat were amazing! The boat dock is very close and not a long walk from the lodge at all. There is also a boat to the Contemporary from WL where you could catch a monorail if you preferred but I imagine that might take longer.

 

[firstwdw]

I am assuming that you read this somewhere, and the only rationale I could think of is that if you get a 5th floor on the North Wing, overlooking Otter Pond, you stand a chance of being able to view Wishes from your balcony. Hope that helps!

just stayed at WL last week for our first time. We were on the 4th floor overlooking the pond and we could view the fireworks through the trees as well as the monorail and Space Mountain. Our room location was very quiet which I requested so that my child could take a daily nap and be in bed at a reasonable hour. We were right by the elevator that took us right next to the cafeteria and pool. We loved our room location and we preferred looking out over the pond-it was so private. We booked a woods view bunk room.

 

[twinkles]

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

 

[akclayton]

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

I'm super jealous!!!! I still have another month and 2 days!

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

Wooohoooo!!!!
Have a wonderful vacation!!I

 

[akclayton]

Congrats on booking WL. I haven't stayed there in a while, but I was at the Poly near Christmas 2010. I admit I love the theming there, but the rooms do seem a bit run down to me. We stayed CL at the Poly for three nights. The biggest problem for me was the noise. Granted, we had a first floor room. But I had to roll a towel up and stuff it at the bottom of the door to cover the gap between it and the floor. When people walked around the room over us, it was like a herd of cattle. And I don't think they were particularly loud folks. It was only noisy for about twenty minutes. But those were twenty unhappy minutes. I've stayed at AKL and WL, and never has sound been an issue. Since you mention having a toddler with you, I'd think that might be important. My kids weren't toddlers and it was to me.

We'll be staying CL at the WL in January and I am really excited to try that resort again. We loved the boats (esp. the larger boat that allows you to run your stroller on without having to collapse it).

My then four-year-old loved the boat the best - here's the video to prove it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R79y91ofoXw

I love it! So funny!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

Have a wonderful trip!!!

 

[WDWKOOK]

What are the customized maps you refer to??

There is nothing at all, seriously, that gets DH more excited than our beloved WL! Isn't it nice to see that twinkle in their eyes!!

Not to steal the thunder from her, but the customized maps are of the parks and they're free and can be ordered from here:

http://customizedmaps.disney.go.com/?CMP=ILC-WDWFY12Q1CMRCustomizedMaps0010

We booked WL as a bounceback when we were there in April for 9/29-10/5, we can't wait!! We got Woods Bunkbed for $1700!!! However, we may have made a huge gaffe - we decided to book the cheaper room and think about CL! We want CL now, and there are none available at teh BB rate now!!
I guess I'll have to start calling every day to see if any come up as available.... grrr.

If we end up sticking with the Woods BB view, are the Woods view in the lobby area good rooms? (meaning, do they open onto the lobby with a balcony overlooking the woods?) I could handle that!

Thanks for this thread and so much info! I've subscribed and read it every day

I'm happy you've found the thread helpful and you've come out of lurkdom. But, I'm sorry that you couldn't get a CL room with the BB. Don't give-up trying, especially the closer it gets to your trip.

The grandparents just took us to Wilderness Lodge-we absolutely loved it! Even with the sawing, hammering and fire alarm testing during our nap-everything else was more than perfect. Does anyone know any tricks or tips on how to score a room at Wilderness for a reasonable rate? How do you know when Disney runs their room specials and is it best to wait for those? We would so love to return on our own while the kids are young.

So glad that you had a great time, despite the disruptions. The construction should be all done in the end of September.

I refuse to book any rooms at rack rate. There are several ways to book with discounts. In the Resorts Forum there is a thread at the top dedicated to room discounts. WDWinfo also has a discounts page here:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts.html

Also, www.MouseSavers.com is a fantastic site that always posts the most current public discounts for WDW and DL. You should also sign-up for their free newsletter

You should have had a Bounce Back offer in your room. It looks like this:

It's good up through 12/15/12.



Historic discounts are available HERE and will give you a great idea of which discounts might be offered in the future.

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

We're happy to help you any time. I hope you have a GREAT vacation and please let us know how you liked WL (they have free WiFi).

I'm super jealous!!!! I still have another month and 2 days!

The time will fly by and before you know it, it's time to pack

 

[TheLodgeLady]

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

Have a wonderful time!!!

 

[tarak]

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

Have a great time!

 

[shoes99]

Leaving tomorrow for a pre-cruise stay at ASMu Family Suites, then 7 nights on the Fantasy, then 2 nights in a studio at VWL.

 

[Rorey]

Leaving tomorrow wanted to thank everyone here for all the great info

Leaving tomorrow for a pre-cruise stay at ASMu Family Suites, then 7 nights on the Fantasy, then 2 nights in a studio at VWL.

I hope you two have a great vacation!

 

[WDWKOOK]

Have a wonderful time!!!

Leaving tomorrow for a pre-cruise stay at ASMu Family Suites, then 7 nights on the Fantasy, then 2 nights in a studio at VWL.

What a fun triple split! Have a piece of Baked Alaska for me!

Have a great vacation and please let us know how you liked your studio.