Resort Thread Disney's Club Level (CL) Thread

[trishadono]

Thinking of a change from my planned 2018 holiday trip (was considering CR TPV CL, Poly CL, GF RPC, GF SL, WL Deluxe CL), and going for a WL CL Standard Room! I've heard on this board that the WL Deluxe rooms are odd in layout (I think this was from @GADisneyDad14 ), far from the lounge, and not that functional. Therefore, I think I'd like to save some $$ and go for the Standard CL Rooms! I'm counting on grabbing a Bounceback offer for it during our late Nov/ early Dec GF SL CL stay this year (fingers crossed!!!!). I know WL will be amazing during the holiday season, and I think the club lounge looks beautiful! I've read that the CMs are great here, too, and the two QS restaurants look awesome! I also really like that everything is housed in one building, and the price is pretty attractive, too!
Concerns:
-Being so far out (vs. the monorail resorts)
-Will we be able to get to the parks PRE- rope drop with WL transportation? I think this will be our preferred style/ strategy, and I read their buses don't run that early, unless you have a PPO ADR?
-Any suggestions for a room request to luck out with an obstructed fireworks view? This would be major, with little ones going to bed early!
THANK YOU soooo much!

DD and I discovered the bus! We had always taken the boats to and from because they are so relaxing but waiting for one sometimes can be 20 mins or more. The bus to/from Mk seemed to come every 5 mins or so. It is so close that the bus makes a continual loop. Easy peasy. So for RP we did 8:40 for a 9 pm on mornings we were enjoying the lounge. It was nice some nights too to get back faster. We generally used the boats mid day when not in a hurry. It is so close you feel like you are adjacent to the park.

Also we like to hop over to cr and get off boat and shop and eat on the mono loop. Again : easy peasy

The resort took 1/2 of wl and made dvc. The half left is the north wing. The cl rooms and lounge on the 7th floor and balcony faces MK/CR and fireworks now. GAdad posted pix I think.

Got to get back to work, happy planning!

 

[jods]

[QUOTE="mickeynut1, post: 58068781, member: 146406"If it would save money, I think going with a standard CL room is a great idea! We've never stayed in a deluxe room, but find the standard rooms very nice. As far as transportation, we never do rope drop so I can't comment on early park transportation, but we've never had any trouble with the buses or boat any other times of the day. Good luck deciding, enjoy the planning .

@mickeynut1 , THANK YOU yet again for answering my post! I always appreciate your awesome responses! It's great to hear you've had good luck with transportation at WL. My fingers are crossed we could grab a bunk-bed room- that would be even better![/QUOTE]

We made rope drop at HS from WL no problem. Got there 815 for a 9 opening. Needed He do training. That's the only place we rope drop lol. I just woke my kids now, 10:42 and I've been up since 715.

 

[Rachel GB]

DD and I discovered the bus! We had always taken the boats to and from because they are so relaxing but waiting for one sometimes can be 20 mins or more. The bus to/from Mk seemed to come every 5 mins or so. It is so close that the bus makes a continual loop. Easy peasy. So for RP we did 8:40 for a 9 pm on mornings we were enjoying the lounge. It was nice some nights too to get back faster. We generally used the boats mid day when not in a hurry. It is so close you feel like you are adjacent to the park.

Also we like to hop over to cr and get off boat and shop and eat on the mono loop. Again : easy peasy

The resort took 1/2 of wl and made dvc. The half left is the north wing. The cl rooms and lounge on the 7th floor and balcony faces MK/CR and fireworks now. GAdad posted pix I think.

Got to get back to work, happy planning!

@trishadono , HURRAYYYY, thank you for reply and great tips! What awesome information! It just sounds to me like WL is a little underrated and overlooked, because the more I research it, the more I think it's going to be wonderful!!!! The fact that all of the standard CL rooms, from what you're saying, are MK views, is SUPER! I do worry, though, that the cut in number of CL rooms is going to mean less availability!
Thanks again!

 

[Rachel GB]

@mickeynut1 , THANK YOU yet again for answering my post! I always appreciate your awesome responses! It's great to hear you've had good luck with transportation at WL. My fingers are crossed we could grab a bunk-bed room- that would be even better!

We made rope drop at HS from WL no problem. Got there 815 for a 9 opening. Needed He do training. That's the only place we rope drop lol. I just woke my kids now, 10:42 and I've been up since 715.[/QUOTE]

@jods , YAY! That sounds amazing! Thank you for getting rid of another one of my worries! Are you staying at WL CL right now????

 

[jlx2]

GADisneyDad14:
(From our recent stay at the Contemporary Atrium Club Level stay ) I am so sorry but I don't drink beer so I'm not sure what brands were available. I do know the beer was not kept in the fridge. In the fridge they had soda, apple juice boxes and chocolate milk. We just had to ask for bottled water and they went and got it for us out back. We had a late flight the day of our departure and we asked if we could use the lounge after check out. They said of course we could and our magic bands would work in the elevator to get us up to the 12th floor until midnight on our check out day and they worked perfectly for us. The servers and concierge's were all so friendly and helpful. We had stayed last April at the Grand Floridian outer building (Sugarloaf). I noticed a big difference in amenities and the service since that stay (when they were doing many cutbacks with club level). First we were greeted when we got off the Magical Express bus this time and were escorted up to our room and shown around. There were always plenty of staff available for questions. The biggest difference I saw were with the in room amenities. I just love these "extras" and was so happy with them. We received slippers (2 pair) and larger 2 ounce Sea Marine shampoo, Sea Salt conditioner, Sea Salt body wash and body lotion, mouthwash, vanity kit with cotton pads, q-tips, nail file, shower cap, a 3 ounce Coppertone SPF50 suntan lotion, peppermint foot lotion (so nice after walking in the parks all day!) and solar relief gel that smells so good and works really well. Last April when we were in Sugar Loaf we weren't greeted, didn't receive any slippers and only had 1 each of the tiny bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash that was it for in room amenities (they were replaced when we ran out). For sure a step up. Does anyone know that has recently stayed at other club level resorts if all of these are now standard in all club level rooms? For the evening appetizers there was always a hot soup, one hot appetizer and one cold one along with the other standard offerings. I loved how the room was located on the same floor as the lounge, super easy! All the staff in the lounge we encountered were so friendly and helpful. Housekeeping was perfect, and we had turndown service every night with chocolates on our pillow. (Love this touch! It's so nice coming back to in the evening after a long day at the parks). We were able to watch the electrical water pageant each night right off our balcony (we could hear the music too) at 10:15PM. They also gave us a number that we could text the concierge if we had any questions or needed anything while we weren't at the resort. Such a great stay!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We will be staying at WL CL starting next week and I've received a phone call and 2 e-mails from a CM at the Old Faithful Club in the past two days! I didn't reach out to them for pre-planning and it was my understanding they had centralized CL pre-planning services. We haven't stayed CL for a while and our past two stays I never received any pre-stay communications from CL staff. I was just really pleasantly surprised a CM reached out to me directly from the Old Faithful Club! Is this now standard practice?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

We will be staying at WL CL starting next week and I've received a phone call and 2 e-mails from a CM at the Old Faithful Club in the past two days! I didn't reach out to them for pre-planning and it was my understanding they had centralized CL pre-planning services. We haven't stayed CL for a while and our past two stays I never received any pre-stay communications from CL staff. I was just really pleasantly surprised a CM reached out to me directly from the Old Faithful Club! Is this now standard practice?

Yes, they have centralized the pre-planning stuff in a new service called Disney Signatures Services (DSS) who sometimes calls and/or sends a postcard to folks to introduce their services (but some people never hear from them, for unknown reasons).

The calls/e-mails from the resort CL itself right before the trip have not been standard practice but that's the second or third recent report I think I've read on here of that happening. They must be trying something new, which is nice to see! Nice touch as well.

Curious if I can ask, who did the e-mail come from? Wilderness Lodge Old Faithful Club?

BTW, have fun at WL CL... loved the new lounge and food offerings there.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, they have centralized the pre-planning stuff in a new service called Disney Signatures Services (DSS) who sometimes calls and/or sends a postcard to folks to introduce their services (but some people never hear from them, for unknown reasons).

The calls/e-mails from the resort CL itself right before the trip have not been standard practice but that's the second or third recent report I think I've read on here of that happening. They must be trying something new, which is nice to see! Nice touch as well.

Curious if I can ask, who did the e-mail come from? Wilderness Lodge Old Faithful Club?

BTW, have fun at WL CL... loved the new lounge and food offerings there.

DSS never called or sent anything, which I was fine with (and kind of came to expect, unfortunately) because I did all my own pre-planning.

The e-mail I received was entitled "Welcome to The Old Faithful Club) and the CM has "Old Faithful Club Wilderness Lodge" in her signature. She also called and introduced herself in the same manner, "hello, this is _____ from the Old Faithful Club at Wilderness Lodge". She has now been in touch with me 3 times - 1 phone call, an initial e-mail and an e-mail response. I'm super impressed!

We stopped staying CL about 2 years ago and I had gotten used to not really getting any type of personalized service or help at all. If this is the direction they are going with CL, that's awesome!

We are really looking forward to see the new lounge!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

DSS never called or sent anything, which I was fine with (and kind of came to expect, unfortunately) because I did all my own pre-planning.

The e-mail I received was entitled "Welcome to The Old Faithful Club) and the CM has "Old Faithful Club Wilderness Lodge" in her signature. She also called and introduced herself in the same manner, "hello, this is _____ from the Old Faithful Club at Wilderness Lodge". She has now been in touch with me 3 times - 1 phone call, an initial e-mail and an e-mail response. I'm super impressed!

We stopped staying CL about 2 years ago and I had gotten used to not really getting any type of personalized service or help at all. If this is the direction they are going with CL, that's awesome!

We are really looking forward to see the new lounge!

That's cool to hear, nice personal touch. I think the other person that reported this was also staying WL CL (although I may have that wrong), wonder if this is a WL only thing at the moment?

Hope you have a great trip.

 

[KrazeeK120]

Thinking of a change from my planned 2018 holiday trip (was considering CR TPV CL, Poly CL, GF RPC, GF SL, WL Deluxe CL), and going for a WL CL Standard Room! I've heard on this board that the WL Deluxe rooms are odd in layout (I think this was from @GADisneyDad14 ), far from the lounge, and not that functional. Therefore, I think I'd like to save some $$ and go for the Standard CL Rooms! I'm counting on grabbing a Bounceback offer for it during our late Nov/ early Dec GF SL CL stay this year (fingers crossed!!!!). I know WL will be amazing during the holiday season, and I think the club lounge looks beautiful! I've read that the CMs are great here, too, and the two QS restaurants look awesome! I also really like that everything is housed in one building, and the price is pretty attractive, too!
Concerns:
-Being so far out (vs. the monorail resorts)
-Will we be able to get to the parks PRE- rope drop with WL transportation? I think this will be our preferred style/ strategy, and I read their buses don't run that early, unless you have a PPO ADR?
-Any suggestions for a room request to luck out with an obstructed fireworks view? This would be major, with little ones going to bed early!
THANK YOU soooo much!

I stayed WL CL in May.

We drive to the parks with the exception of MK. We didn't have any trouble getting early buses for our 2 MK days (one of which was EMM, so we were there even earlier than normal). We always took the boat back to the resort and it was a lovely ride.

We had an unobstructed fireworks view, but no bunk beds (there were 2 queens in our room). I had requested a room which faces toward the MK (hoping for a fireworks view). Our room was literally smack in the middle of the hall, but I'd imagine there are good fireworks views from many rooms on that side of the hall.

Some other things I liked about WL CL...
-Good kid's offerings. They had PB&J and pasta every night, along with fruit.
-Beer was available in the fridge - no asking a CM to go fetch some
-There was also beer available on draft
-Bottled water was available in the fridge
-View from the lounge - it looks into the open lobby below. It's a lot of fun to sit up there and people watch.
-We received a 1 liter bottle of Dasani every day in our room. This was great for filling up my toddler's sippy cup and refilling it when we returned to the resort.
-Proximity of rooms to the lounge - all of the standard CL rooms are in one hallway, which is very close to the lounge
-Lounge was never crowded while we were there. In fact, there were a few times where we were literally the only people there. Once, I was there alone!

I absolutely loved WL CL. The only other CL I've stayed at is BWI, and that's because I'd gotten a free upgrade. If it's ever in my budget to do CL again, I will be returning to WL, no question. I don't even need to try anywhere else.

 

[MinMou]

GADisneyDad14:
(From our recent stay at the Contemporary Atrium Club Level stay ) I am so sorry but I don't drink beer so I'm not sure what brands were available. I do know the beer was not kept in the fridge. In the fridge they had soda, apple juice boxes and chocolate milk. We just had to ask for bottled water and they went and got it for us out back. We had a late flight the day of our departure and we asked if we could use the lounge after check out. They said of course we could and our magic bands would work in the elevator to get us up to the 12th floor until midnight on our check out day and they worked perfectly for us. The servers and concierge's were all so friendly and helpful. We had stayed last April at the Grand Floridian outer building (Sugarloaf). I noticed a big difference in amenities and the service since that stay (when they were doing many cutbacks with club level). First we were greeted when we got off the Magical Express bus this time and were escorted up to our room and shown around. There were always plenty of staff available for questions. The biggest difference I saw were with the in room amenities. I just love these "extras" and was so happy with them. We received slippers (2 pair) and larger 2 ounce Sea Marine shampoo, Sea Salt conditioner, Sea Salt body wash and body lotion, mouthwash, vanity kit with cotton pads, q-tips, nail file, shower cap, a 3 ounce Coppertone SPF50 suntan lotion, peppermint foot lotion (so nice after walking in the parks all day!) and solar relief gel that smells so good and works really well. Last April when we were in Sugar Loaf we weren't greeted, didn't receive any slippers and only had 1 each of the tiny bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash that was it for in room amenities (they were replaced when we ran out). For sure a step up. Does anyone know that has recently stayed at other club level resorts if all of these are now standard in all club level rooms? For the evening appetizers there was always a hot soup, one hot appetizer and one cold one along with the other standard offerings. I loved how the room was located on the same floor as the lounge, super easy! All the staff in the lounge we encountered were so friendly and helpful. Housekeeping was perfect, and we had turndown service every night with chocolates on our pillow. (Love this touch! It's so nice coming back to in the evening after a long day at the parks). We were able to watch the electrical water pageant each night right off our balcony (we could hear the music too) at 10:15PM. They also gave us a number that we could text the concierge if we had any questions or needed anything while we weren't at the resort. Such a great stay!

Thank you for this report. I had been getting nervous about insisting on CL for our stay, but I will be very happy if we can have a stay as nice as yours.

 

[trishadono]

@trishadono , HURRAYYYY, thank you for reply and great tips! What awesome information! It just sounds to me like WL is a little underrated and overlooked, because the more I research it, the more I think it's going to be wonderful!!!! The fact that all of the standard CL rooms, from what you're saying, are MK views, is SUPER! I do worry, though, that the cut in number of CL rooms is going to mean less availability!
Thanks again!

It is not the best view of fireworks but still so cool to see them and CR in the distance. Makes you feel special.

You are welcome. I l love wl. I often boat over just to visit. The tree and Christmas is one of my fav disney things.

 

[CT Disney]

Poly lounge, vibe, and view, walkable to Epcot with animals and restaurants from AKL. Toss in the room size/decor from CR.

I keep picturing giraffes walking around the Boardwalk and International Gateway areas...now that would be cool! Also, how nice would it be to have a view of the castle, but sill be walkable to Epcot?!? I like your thinking

I stayed WL CL in May.

We drive to the parks with the exception of MK. We didn't have any trouble getting early buses for our 2 MK days (one of which was EMM, so we were there even earlier than normal). We always took the boat back to the resort and it was a lovely ride.

We had an unobstructed fireworks view, but no bunk beds (there were 2 queens in our room). I had requested a room which faces toward the MK (hoping for a fireworks view). Our room was literally smack in the middle of the hall, but I'd imagine there are good fireworks views from many rooms on that side of the hall.

Some other things I liked about WL CL...
-Good kid's offerings. They had PB&J and pasta every night, along with fruit.
-Beer was available in the fridge - no asking a CM to go fetch some
-There was also beer available on draft
-Bottled water was available in the fridge
-View from the lounge - it looks into the open lobby below. It's a lot of fun to sit up there and people watch.
-We received a 1 liter bottle of Dasani every day in our room. This was great for filling up my toddler's sippy cup and refilling it when we returned to the resort.
-Proximity of rooms to the lounge - all of the standard CL rooms are in one hallway, which is very close to the lounge
-Lounge was never crowded while we were there. In fact, there were a few times where we were literally the only people there. Once, I was there alone!

I absolutely loved WL CL. The only other CL I've stayed at is BWI, and that's because I'd gotten a free upgrade. If it's ever in my budget to do CL again, I will be returning to WL, no question. I don't even need to try anywhere else.

This all sounds really good! I especially like the pasta every night for the kids and the bottled water in the fridge. I wish all CLs would do these two things!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

I stayed WL CL in May.

We drive to the parks with the exception of MK. We didn't have any trouble getting early buses for our 2 MK days (one of which was EMM, so we were there even earlier than normal). We always took the boat back to the resort and it was a lovely ride.

We had an unobstructed fireworks view, but no bunk beds (there were 2 queens in our room). I had requested a room which faces toward the MK (hoping for a fireworks view). Our room was literally smack in the middle of the hall, but I'd imagine there are good fireworks views from many rooms on that side of the hall.

Some other things I liked about WL CL...
-Good kid's offerings. They had PB&J and pasta every night, along with fruit.
-Beer was available in the fridge - no asking a CM to go fetch some
-There was also beer available on draft
-Bottled water was available in the fridge
-View from the lounge - it looks into the open lobby below. It's a lot of fun to sit up there and people watch.
-We received a 1 liter bottle of Dasani every day in our room. This was great for filling up my toddler's sippy cup and refilling it when we returned to the resort.
-Proximity of rooms to the lounge - all of the standard CL rooms are in one hallway, which is very close to the lounge
-Lounge was never crowded while we were there. In fact, there were a few times where we were literally the only people there. Once, I was there alone!

I absolutely loved WL CL. The only other CL I've stayed at is BWI, and that's because I'd gotten a free upgrade. If it's ever in my budget to do CL again, I will be returning to WL, no question. I don't even need to try anywhere else.

Your post has me all searching the WDW website for WL CL availability.....

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Just returned from a fabulous 11 night stay at SL. We've stayed here several times but this visit was superb mainly due to the excellent CMs. We originally thought that we may be disappointed as our only room request was 'no dormer' and guess what we got?! We were allocated a dormer on the end of the third floor overlooking the marina and absolutely loved the room.

The food was fabulous and there seemed to be a lot of new offerings from our previous visits. We particularly liked the belly pork in the evening and the addition of the chef certainly added to the variety of foods. The waffles at breakfast were great. The lounge did get very crowded at 5pm and it was difficult to get a table but we found that the crowds dispersed after about 30 minutes. We'll certainly be returning next summer.

We had a reservation for the Dolphin for Christmas but have now booked our first five nights at the WL in CL. We've stayed at the lodge but only in a standard room so are really excited about this. I'm tempted to book the YC for our last five nights but at the moment can't justify paying rack rate.

Thanks for that update, sounds great! Question...was the chef there every day? Every other day? When we were there in April they were doing the chef thing every other day or so... there one morning but not the rest... there one afternoon making a fancy dessert but not the others, etc. Thanks in advance!

 

[barbliny]

All of these CL reports the past week ...

Personalized contact directly from WL CL
DRAFT beer in WL CL and bottled water in the fridge
12-yr Glenlivet in BWI CL
Made to order omelettes on Sundays in BWI CL
Waffles at breakfast in GF SL CL
Chef added in GF SL CL

But wait ...
Elimination of turndown service at BC/YC CL
Reports that the BC/YC CL cast members are rotated throughout the resort on daily basis now

Upgrading club level amenities in some resorts and taking them away in others

I feel like I'm in an episode of Punk'd right now with my YC CL room booked for next month

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Thinking of a change from my planned 2018 holiday trip (was considering CR TPV CL, Poly CL, GF RPC, GF SL, WL Deluxe CL), and going for a WL CL Standard Room! I've heard on this board that the WL Deluxe rooms are odd in layout (I think this was from @GADisneyDad14 ), far from the lounge, and not that functional. Therefore, I think I'd like to save some $$ and go for the Standard CL Rooms! I'm counting on grabbing a Bounceback offer for it during our late Nov/ early Dec GF SL CL stay this year (fingers crossed!!!!). I know WL will be amazing during the holiday season, and I think the club lounge looks beautiful! I've read that the CMs are great here, too, and the two QS restaurants look awesome! I also really like that everything is housed in one building, and the price is pretty attractive, too!
Concerns:
-Being so far out (vs. the monorail resorts)
-Will we be able to get to the parks PRE- rope drop with WL transportation? I think this will be our preferred style/ strategy, and I read their buses don't run that early, unless you have a PPO ADR?
-Any suggestions for a room request to luck out with an obstructed fireworks view? This would be major, with little ones going to bed early!
THANK YOU soooo much!

I don't have a ton of experience with WL, but on the pre-RD transportation question.... we did EMM while at WL last November and took the boat. The boat from WL to MK wasn't running that early but the boat that does the WL-CR-FW loop was. We took the boat to CR and walked over to MK. We were at the MK entrance by 7:35-7:40ish, I think we caught the boat around 7:15ish. I'm using round numbers here (and we were walking very fast for fear of being late). I'm under the impression the bus would have also been an option at that hour, but haven't done it myself.

 

[Rachel GB]

I stayed WL CL in May.

We drive to the parks with the exception of MK. We didn't have any trouble getting early buses for our 2 MK days (one of which was EMM, so we were there even earlier than normal). We always took the boat back to the resort and it was a lovely ride.

We had an unobstructed fireworks view, but no bunk beds (there were 2 queens in our room). I had requested a room which faces toward the MK (hoping for a fireworks view). Our room was literally smack in the middle of the hall, but I'd imagine there are good fireworks views from many rooms on that side of the hall.

Some other things I liked about WL CL...
-Good kid's offerings. They had PB&J and pasta every night, along with fruit.
-Beer was available in the fridge - no asking a CM to go fetch some
-There was also beer available on draft
-Bottled water was available in the fridge
-View from the lounge - it looks into the open lobby below. It's a lot of fun to sit up there and people watch.
-We received a 1 liter bottle of Dasani every day in our room. This was great for filling up my toddler's sippy cup and refilling it when we returned to the resort.
-Proximity of rooms to the lounge - all of the standard CL rooms are in one hallway, which is very close to the lounge
-Lounge was never crowded while we were there. In fact, there were a few times where we were literally the only people there. Once, I was there alone!

I absolutely loved WL CL. The only other CL I've stayed at is BWI, and that's because I'd gotten a free upgrade. If it's ever in my budget to do CL again, I will be returning to WL, no question. I don't even need to try anywhere else.

@KrazeeK120 , WOW! If I was on the fence before, I'm certainly not now! What an awesome, detailed response! Thank you so much!!!

 

[Rachel GB]

It is not the best view of fireworks but still so cool to see them and CR in the distance. Makes you feel special.

You are welcome. I l love wl. I often boat over just to visit. The tree and Christmas is one of my fav disney things.

View attachment 262748 View attachment 262749 View attachment 262750 View attachment 262751 View attachment 262752 View attachment 262753

@trishadono , the "wow factor" is off the charts! Who knew you could get such a great view off of the monorail resorts??? Thank you for posting these beautiful photos!

I don't have a ton of experience with WL, but on the pre-RD transportation question.... we did EMM while at WL last November and took the boat. The boat from WL to MK wasn't running that early but the boat that does the WL-CR-FW loop was. We took the boat to CR and walked over to MK. We were at the MK entrance by 7:35-7:40ish, I think we caught the boat around 7:15ish. I'm using round numbers here (and we were walking very fast for fear of being late). I'm under the impression the bus would have also been an option at that hour, but haven't done it myself.

@GADisneyDad14 , that's AWESOME! Thank you so much for your reply! That's a great tip, and makes me far less nervous about the transportation at WL (vs. a monorail resort). We will be doing a morning EMH MK day (and a regular park hour MK day, too) this trip, so that's especially helpful. I agree with your post to another Disboarder- I'm checking WL CL availability myself! But it's all booked up for this holiday, so it's going #1 on our list for a 2018 Bounceback for sure!

 

[KrazeeK120]

I don't have a ton of experience with WL, but on the pre-RD transportation question.... we did EMM while at WL last November and took the boat. The boat from WL to MK wasn't running that early but the boat that does the WL-CR-FW loop was. We took the boat to CR and walked over to MK. We were at the MK entrance by 7:35-7:40ish, I think we caught the boat around 7:15ish. I'm using round numbers here (and we were walking very fast for fear of being late). I'm under the impression the bus would have also been an option at that hour, but haven't done it myself.

I can confirm that bus transportation from WL is available early! We caught a bus a little after 7 and were (im)patiently waiting for EMM by 7:30! While we were waiting, I am pretty sure buses for all 3 other parks came. I know I saw at least 2. The bus is definitely a viable option!