Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[GrandCalifornian]

Joining in to post on the new thread. Great job as always WDWKOOK. We don't have a trip planned now but still love to visit and hang out here to see what's up at the Lodge.

 

[MickeyEars]

Thanks KOOK for our new home, it looks great!!

Carla

 

[bocaj1431]

Thanks for the new thread Kook!

 

[BlondeBelle]

Well, DBF and I are off this AM, and will be at the lodge later on today. Thanks so much to WDWKook for maintaining the thread and to everyone for sharing! I've been following every post since we booked at the lodge 6 months ago, and probably even before, as we tried to decide which resort to stay in!

 

[MrsPumpkin]

Thank you for a great thread and full of info!

We are staying at WL for 2 weeks this October for the first time and very excited!

I booked a woods view room, not really knowing anything about WL, but guessing that a standard room wouldn't give us the best view from the balcony (we overlooked aircon units when at OKW last year) so hoping for a nicer view this time around at WL.

What would be the best floor level/room area to request for a good view?

 

[WDWKOOK]

I've NEVER had ANY problem with noise, at WL. In fact, when I'm looking for superlatives to use, to describe it, "quiet" and "peaceful" are at the top of the list.

No, it's not completely silent. There's the boat horns. The geyser can be heard. (Although the geyser stops, at night).

Yes, I usually chose courtyard view, because I LIKE the sound of like 50 happy kids having a blast, in the pool. (But I can't hear them, with the patio door closed).

Nothing scientific, to back it up, but I'm firmly convinced that the only way you can find quieter, on property, is to get a Cabin.

Just want to add some comments about "room noise."

Rooms that connect to another room and have a connecting door can be very noisy depending on the guests next door. You will be able to hear just about every word through a connecting door if you have loud neighbors. Also, rooms that are below another room can be very noisy depending on the guests' movements above you. This is mostly true at all Deluxe Resorts, though CR, which is much older, seems to be insulated better from noise next door, perhaps because the doors are much thicker.

Thanks KOOk for keeping the party going!

Can you please add me to the log for WL? It will be my first stay ever at the Lodge so we're hopefully doing it right with a Deluxe room w/CL access. Although, I'm a little nervous after reading your trip report regarding the smelly armoire.

2/27/15-2/29/15

Of course I'll add your dates.

LOL about those funky Deluxe Room armoires and do not let that worry you at all. The odor is only detectable when you open the armoire, not when it's closed. I was told that the strange wood odor has been with them since they got them and that attempts to remove the odor were unsuccessful. I tried with Lysol and it didn't work either. It's something in the wood or stain. Since there's plenty of other storage, we just left the armoire empty. But you could probably safely store your sealed luggage in there, but there is room for luggage in between the armoire and the wall next to it.

I'm eyeing the rates on Expedia in late April 2015 and it feels like WL might be a great choice. All of the happy thoughts from the board are getting me more excited.

I've been reading reviews and it sounds like everyone with kids has a great time. What are some of your must-do's with a 4 year old and her 1 year old brother?

And, how is transportation? Reviews seem to be all over the map. Boat is great, wait too long for boats, small boats, etc. Same with buses - too many stops, really prompt... Everyone has a different thought and they seem to be opposites!

TIA for the tips/help!

I think the transportation time charts in the TRANSPORTAION chapter will help you. It's nice that there are several options at WL, but keep in mind that no resort has the perfect option to ALL destinations.

The two chapters on ACTIVITIES include lots of fun and free things for children to do at WL and FW. Although your one-year old is pretty much limited when it comes to activities other than sleeping, eating, crying and being pushed around in a stroller, your four-year-old will have plenty to do at WL and FW.

The room number was 4533...we were one of the unhappy couples that got it this week...however, it may not be the only one...first floor room had a patio, but 2nd and 3rd floor didn't have a balcony...however they may be king rooms for 1 bedrooms...not sure...

That's the only Studio villa without a balcony that I found.

Just booked our BounceBack to WL for 9/5 - 9/11 in our usual courtyard view

To the Lodgers' Log you go!

What? Who? I may or may not have done this in other lounges . . .

There are styrofoam cups with lids in a drawer underneath the beverages. They can be filled with any beverage

Joining in to post on the new thread. Great job as always WDWKOOK. We don't have a trip planned now but still love to visit and hang out here to see what's up at the Lodge.

Great to have you here, Paul. I hope you'll continue answering questions

Thanks KOOK for our new home, it looks great!!

Carla

Thanks, Carla!

Thanks for the new thread Kook!

You're welcome!

Well, DBF and I are off this AM, and will be at the lodge later on today. Thanks so much to WDWKook for maintaining the thread and to everyone for sharing! I've been following every post since we booked at the lodge 6 months ago, and probably even before, as we tried to decide which resort to stay in!

How exciting! I hope you'll check in with us if you get a chance. Happy vacation!

Thank you for a great thread and full of info!

We are staying at WL for 2 weeks this October for the first time and very excited!

I booked a woods view room, not really knowing anything about WL, but guessing that a standard room wouldn't give us the best view from the balcony (we overlooked aircon units when at OKW last year) so hoping for a nicer view this time around at WL.

What would be the best floor level/room area to request for a good view?

Two weeks sounds dreamy!

Most with a Woods View like to request a high floor in the North Wing so that they might be able to see some of Wishes. The higher Standard View rooms in the North Wing also have a partial Wishes view. There is more room view info in the ROOM VIEW chapter of the thread. It includes some photos of SV and WV rooms in the North Wing.

 

[wifey]

Thank you WDWKOOK for your take on the noise levels, we have been in rooms before where couples have had physical and verbal fights in the rooms around us and one family had the Dad leave in the middle of the night when the Mom really needed his help with twin young babies. I really felt sorry for the lady she sobbed her heart out for ages , I so wanted to knock and see if she was ok but thought she might have been really embarrassed if I had done so. The lady ended up phoning her mum to come over since they were not far apart and they moved out the next day. From the dialogue between them she was probably making a wise choice. Some folks lose sight of just why they are there in the first place to relax and it's such a shame when that happens. I found it interesting on our last trip a family we kept bumping into actually took and paid their Nannies to go with them to help with the kiddos and they seemed to all enjoy things so much more than others were doing at the time. That is why it's alwys best to go at the pace the kids and adults are comfortable with from the beginning especially during the busy humid weeks of summer. We did find packing rolled towels under the connecting doors really helped reduce noise seepage too, you pick up all sorts of tricks like that over the years.

 

[gschon]

Just booked for September, only 7 weeks until ADR's !

 

[trishadono]

What? Who? I may or may not have done this in other lounges . . .

I am always so sore at 50 with dd a teen running around that I need my red wine to keep the aches away. I put a glass or 1/2 in a to go cup and then ride bus or monorail to park.
Often I finish at bus stop but makes the waiting more enjoyable

 

[trishadono]

Just booked for September, only 7 weeks until ADR's !

We do love our disney planning!!!

 

[chiisai]

I am always so sore at 50 with dd a teen running around that I need my red wine to keep the aches away. I put a glass or 1/2 in a to go cup and then ride bus or monorail to park.
Often I finish at bus stop but makes the waiting more enjoyable

Love this, thanks for sharing!!!

 

[ADRANAS32]

So excited! Only 9 days left till our trip! WL CL. This is our 2nd trip to DW... We stayed at the cabins last trip.... Hoping its not too cramped

 

[MISSYLEXI]

This will be our first time at WL. Thanks you all for the info!!

 

[makclair]

One week till our stay at the lodge!!! So excited! Will be there 1/31 till 2/7

 

[Mainemama]

Thanks for the new thread! I just noticed we aren't on the log... Nor is anyone else for our dates! 2/14-2/20. We are in a near frenzy of anticipation in my house! Our first stay at the lodge, and the first trip that my 2.5 year old has been able to anticipate! Makes for funny conversations. Does anyone know if big siblings are allowed in Splash area with under 48"? I assume parents are.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We arrived at the WL this morning around 10:45am after waking up about 3:30am for our 6am flight. It was one of those travel days where everything seemed to go right. A shuttle bus was waiting for us at the airport parking lot. Our airplane took off on time and landed early, about 9:233am. We walked right on the ME and it pulled out about 8 minutes later. We arrived at the WL around 10:45am, got checked in quickly and our room was ready for us.

We needed to get our Annual Passes renewed and the only glitch in the day so far was the huge line at Guest Relations. I bet there were more than 200 people in line. So we took the Boardwalk bus and walked to the International Gateway where we only had to wait about ten minutes in line before we could renew the passes. We took a nice walk through Epcot, a bus ride back to the WL that took less than ten minutes, and we made it back in time for Magic cookie hour.

There is scaffolding up in front of the inner courtyard, upper springs section of the lodge, just to your right as you walk toward the pool. The room we were in last October, room 3119, now is covered by the scaffolding. I didn't see any other construction going on at the lodge. The new pool looks great. The splash pad was running and kids were having fun playing in it, even though it was about 57 degrees out. The beach is back to normal. There is a new canvas roof on the Trout Bar that looks really nice.

We had drinks and appetizers at Territory Lounge and while we were enjoying our cheese fondue we decided to see if we could get a reservation at Artist Point. A few clicks on the MDE app and we had an ADR two hours later. The MDE app was very handy for that. Dinner was delicious and we got complimentary wine to go with our berry cobbler. We made it back to our room in time to watch Wishes through the trees while sitting on the bed. It was the perfect end to a day that was really nice. I can't believe that we just got here this morning.

The only downside was that the weather has turned cold and one of the reasons we ended up at Artist Point was that it was just too cold to go back out. But it was a lovely way to end our day.

I'll tell you all about our room after we check out. We can see the fireworks through the trees and it isn't too bad of a view.

 

[MrsJobba1]

Just some quick questions - what is magic cookie hour? Is this a club level activity ? How do u know what the hour is?

Is there a boardwalk bus or did you use the Epcot bus?

Thank you enjoy your stay

 

[pas130]

I don't get on the DIS nearly enough anymore Hopefully that will change when classes are done (c'mon summer). I spotted new digs!!!!!!! YAY Kookalicious, as always great job, and thank you for all you do here on DIS and the FAQ threads We are booked this summer at Poly CL (no changes...it's been 4 months WHAT???) and the only other place that catches my eye is OFC Miss you my friend, and all my DISfriends!!

 

[pas130]

We arrived at the WL this morning around 10:45am after waking up about 3:30am for our 6am flight. It was one of those travel days where everything seemed to go right. A shuttle bus was waiting for us at the airport parking lot. Our airplane took off on time and landed early, about 9:233am. We walked right on the ME and it pulled out about 8 minutes later. We arrived at the WL around 10:45am, got checked in quickly and our room was ready for us.

We needed to get our Annual Passes renewed and the only glitch in the day so far was the huge line at Guest Relations. I bet there were more than 200 people in line. So we took the Boardwalk bus and walked to the International Gateway where we only had to wait about ten minutes in line before we could renew the passes. We took a nice walk through Epcot, a bus ride back to the WL that took less than ten minutes, and we made it back in time for Magic cookie hour.

There is scaffolding up in front of the inner courtyard, upper springs section of the lodge, just to your right as you walk toward the pool. The room we were in last October, room 3119, now is covered by the scaffolding. I didn't see any other construction going on at the lodge. The new pool looks great. The splash pad was running and kids were having fun playing in it, even though it was about 57 degrees out. The beach is back to normal. There is a new canvas roof on the Trout Bar that looks really nice.

We had drinks and appetizers at Territory Lounge and while we were enjoying our cheese fondue we decided to see if we could get a reservation at Artist Point. A few clicks on the MDE app and we had an ADR two hours later. The MDE app was very handy for that. Dinner was delicious and we got complimentary wine to go with our berry cobbler. We made it back to our room in time to watch Wishes through the trees while sitting on the bed. It was the perfect end to a day that was really nice. I can't believe that we just got here this morning.

The only downside was that the weather has turned cold and one of the reasons we ended up at Artist Point was that it was just too cold to go back out. But it was a lovely way to end our day.

I'll tell you all about our room after we check out. We can see the fireworks through the trees and it isn't too bad of a view.

Enjoy!!! What is with those crowds CRAZY

 

[TheLodgeLady]

We arrived at the WL this morning around 10:45am after waking up about 3:30am for our 6am flight. It was one of those travel days where everything seemed to go right. A shuttle bus was waiting for us at the airport parking lot. Our airplane took off on time and landed early, about 9:233am. We walked right on the ME and it pulled out about 8 minutes later. We arrived at the WL around 10:45am, got checked in quickly and our room was ready for us.

We needed to get our Annual Passes renewed and the only glitch in the day so far was the huge line at Guest Relations. I bet there were more than 200 people in line. So we took the Boardwalk bus and walked to the International Gateway where we only had to wait about ten minutes in line before we could renew the passes. We took a nice walk through Epcot, a bus ride back to the WL that took less than ten minutes, and we made it back in time for Magic cookie hour.

There is scaffolding up in front of the inner courtyard, upper springs section of the lodge, just to your right as you walk toward the pool. The room we were in last October, room 3119, now is covered by the scaffolding. I didn't see any other construction going on at the lodge. The new pool looks great. The splash pad was running and kids were having fun playing in it, even though it was about 57 degrees out. The beach is back to normal. There is a new canvas roof on the Trout Bar that looks really nice.

We had drinks and appetizers at Territory Lounge and while we were enjoying our cheese fondue we decided to see if we could get a reservation at Artist Point. A few clicks on the MDE app and we had an ADR two hours later. The MDE app was very handy for that. Dinner was delicious and we got complimentary wine to go with our berry cobbler. We made it back to our room in time to watch Wishes through the trees while sitting on the bed. It was the perfect end to a day that was really nice. I can't believe that we just got here this morning.

The only downside was that the weather has turned cold and one of the reasons we ended up at Artist Point was that it was just too cold to go back out. But it was a lovely way to end our day.

I'll tell you all about our room after we check out. We can see the fireworks through the trees and it isn't too bad of a view.

Hi there!

Great start to your vacation! Enjoy!