Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[kb mkcp]

I am really enjoying this thread-Can our trip for Feb 26-March 2, 2015 be added to the front page?
What would be the correct terminology for requesting a room on the same wing as Roaring Forks with a view of the Electrical Water Pageant.

 

[metz72]

I have been contemplating turning our 10 day day CBR stay this June into a split stay with 3 nights deluxe possibly club level. I have it narrowed down to AKL and WL with WL edging ahead mostly due to the posts on this and the earlier threads. This will be at the end of our stay and I think that we will be spending a lot of time at the resort. From the posts it looks like there is a lot to do, more then at AKL.

Anyone have more reasons why I should go WL over AKL?

 

[grannyminnie]

Thanks, Trish, for the delightful food pics! I'm curious about the tea time pictures: was that all one meal, or from various visits to the tearoom?
I bet you're excited to get a new kitchen! I'd be like this...

 

[Trekkie]

Anyone have more reasons why I should go WL over AKL?

Me, I think WL is just more magical.
I like the restaurants batter. (I like more "American" cooking. So I prefer WL over Poly or AKL.)
I like the boat to MK.

Having said that? There's the animals, at AKL. Including the nighttime viewing. So it's not exactly like there's nothing to do, at AKL.

(On the other, other, hand, WL is a boat ride from Contemporary or FtW, too. So you can consider all of the things going on at those places, like Chef Mickey's, Hoop de Doo, or Mickey's BBQ, to be benefits of WL, too.)

 

[Gracie0423]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this board- it really helped our family plan our trip!! We leave tomorrow am and could not be more excited!
For those there now, other blogs are reporting very heavy crowds, mostly tour groups, I've never been to WDW this time of year so I'm hoping it's not as horrible as it sounds, we will make the best out of it and enjoy no matter what- thanks again for this great, supportive community.

Grace

 

[trishadono]

Thanks, Trish, for the delightful food pics! I'm curious about the tea time pictures: was that all one meal, or from various visits to the tearoom?
I bet you're excited to get a new kitchen! I'd be like this...

I explained an a separate thread but basically I get the Princess Kate. That one has champagne, pot of tea, the first course is potted shrimp, the pic with cheeses, honey, dried grapes,etc is the 2nd course, the 3rd course was the scones followed by 4th course a choice of desserts mostly pictured. I have tried them all! I like the strawberry trifle the best.

DD gets The Buckingham Palace. Hers started with that plate of sandwiches shown, then the scones then choice of desserts.

Many items available al a carte too! DD got scones to go for $4 which in Disney money is cheap.(came with accompliments too)

Here is menu: http://allears.net/dining/menu/garden-view-tea-room/afternoon-tea

Yes I am excited, just not prepared! It was supposed to start in March! I came home from vaca with my dh telling me move EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR CABINETS NOW! Oh well crappy weather now anyways, so what else to do with my time? It will be great when done!! WOOHOO

 

[TheLodgeLady]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this board- it really helped our family plan our trip!! We leave tomorrow am and could not be more excited!
For those there now, other blogs are reporting very heavy crowds, mostly tour groups, I've never been to WDW this time of year so I'm hoping it's not as horrible as it sounds, we will make the best out of it and enjoy no matter what- thanks again for this great, supportive community.

Grace

Hi there,

I have a friend there now and says that yes the parks are crowded, especially the Magic Kingdom. And there are lots of tour groups. Not sure if you will be doing any rides at all. She said that as long as you have FPs for the rides you are golden. It seems these tour groups are using the standby lines mostly and she says they fill them up.

Take your time and enjoy. Our weather should be really nice the next couple of days. Perfect Disney weather!!

 

[Trekkie]

Thanks to everyone for the information on this board- it really helped our family plan our trip!! We leave tomorrow am and could not be more excited!
For those there now, other blogs are reporting very heavy crowds, mostly tour groups, I've never been to WDW this time of year so I'm hoping it's not as horrible as it sounds, we will make the best out of it and enjoy no matter what- thanks again for this great, supportive community.

Grace

Me, I assume that Disney is relatively full, year round.

I assume that they have people who work very hard, to keep it that way.

 

[pixarmom]

Good luck with the kitchen, Trish! And thanks so much for the photos!!!

 

[trishadono]

Good luck with the kitchen, Trish! And thanks so much for the photos!!!

You are welcome and thanks for YOUR photos over on the gf thread

 

[Bree]

Hi everyone! We checked out of club level this past Sunday and I was completely left with a bad impression.

I know requests are never guaranteed, but I had asked for either a Woods View Room in the North Wing or a Courtyard View. Upon arrival we were put in HA room 7102 in the South Wing. All the CV rooms in the south wing were closed due to repairs being done outside. They could not move us until the next morning. We gave the room a shot because we did not really want to move since we were only there 3 nights. The bathroom situation did not work out since the toilet, sink and shower is all in one big room. It was difficult with four of us trying to get ready and the entire bathroom flooded when we took showers.

The next morning we were moved to room 7112. The phone was broken (there was a dial tone, but you couldn't dial out. none of the buttons or keypad worked.) and I asked four times for it to be replaced which never happened. Both sinks were missing their stoppers. The round tops had been unscrewed, were missing and not replaced when I asked. The switch for the light over the little table was also broken. The lever was missing and it had slid down the wire behind the table. I made a complaint at the concierge desk and was told that they were booked solid and that there was nothing they could do. There was no apology for the room's condition and I was just shocked. I told them nicely Saturday afternoon that I was disappointed with the state of the room for the price that they charge and asked if they could compensate us in some way (I wasn't looking for much...maybe an extra FP+....a couple of Mickey Bars). I was told that they would have to get a supervisor's approval, but there wasn't one there at the time, but he/she would contact me. Well, needless to say it didn't happen. We never got lotion in either room either which I thought was odd. I had to call for it the first day then walk down to the concierge CMs the rest of our trip since I had no phone! We also had no extra blankets or pillows and didn't discover this until we got back to our room Friday night after the concierge CMs had left. Since we had no phone that meant trekking back down to the regular front desk. I told them there as well about the phone problem and was told it would be replaced which of course did not happen.

The Sunday we were to check out I received a phone call at 8:30am from a Palm Beach County Sheriff informing me my DH had been involved in a motorcycle accident. A truck had run a stop sign and my DH hit the driver's side at 55 MPH. Needless to say I was not in a state of mind to follow up with a WL supervisor before I left. It was the longest three hour drive back home of my life. My DH has some serious injuries, but was moved out of ICU, to a step-down ICU and then as of today to a Special Care Unit.

Now that my DH is stable it's been on my mind all day. I don't know if I should follow up with Disney in any way. I'm not one to raise a stink and make demands, but I'm just disappointed. The lodge has always been my favorite place to stay. And really, what can they do since I'm now home? I feel bad for the family that got the room after us.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

ETA: The bathroom fan was also broken. It did nothing but make a horrible grinding noise and did not alleviate any of the shower steam.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I am really enjoying this thread-Can our trip for Feb 26-March 2, 2015 be added to the front page?
What would be the correct terminology for requesting a room on the same wing as Roaring Forks with a view of the Electrical Water Pageant.

You best view of the EWP will be from a courtyard view room, but that is a bookable category. Roaring Forks is in the North Wing. We had a great view of it from a 6th floor courtyard view room, , but it was on the East end section of the wing so it had an enclosed balcony. 5th floor or below would have open railing.

I have been contemplating turning our 10 day day CBR stay this June into a split stay with 3 nights deluxe possibly club level. I have it narrowed down to AKL and WL with WL edging ahead mostly due to the posts on this and the earlier threads. This will be at the end of our stay and I think that we will be spending a lot of time at the resort. From the posts it looks like there is a lot to do, more then at AKL.

Anyone have more reasons why I should go WL over AKL?

We really like both Lodges, but WL wins out for us because of its proximity to MK and having boat transportation options. We find Bay Lake to be just beautiful, and we enjoy riding the boats on it to MK, CR, and FW.

WL has a less exotic, but more cozy feel to us. AKL has a more exotic feel and of course the animals, which are really neat. The pool and playground are probably slightly preferable at AKL, but that might have changed with the recent upgrades at WL. For Quick Service food AKL has a bigger area with more indoor seating, but we really enjoy the food at WL's Roaring Fork too.

The bus ride to MK from WL is also very quick, and tends to be quicker than the ride from AKL to AK.

Whichever Lodge you decide to stay at, I'd plan on taking some time to visit the other one too.

 

[grannyminnie]

Bree, first let me say I hope your DH recovers completely from his injuries! How terrible for you and him...
Second, I think what you had to put up with in that room was totally unacceptable! Others post after experiences such as yours that it is best to address issues while there, and in your case, you most certainly tried. It is absolutely understandable that in your concern for your DH that you did not get to follow up and I hope that when you contact Disney after the fact, that you will get some satisfaction.
Please keep us posted.

 

[peteykirch]

Went to the Territory Lounge for a light supper tonight and upon leaving I saw this;

Was it time to change the bulbs in the teepees?

 

[pixarmom]

Regarding the AKL vs. WL question, this is a tough one. Right now, our kids are really into AKL because we stayed there as part of a split stay earlier this month and they were completely into the safari theme. But I'd say WL is my favorite. Part of it is sentimental because I'd stayed deluxe as a child and then after college, I started from the beginning with values, then mods and then finally was able to bring our kids to WL for their first deluxe stay. But the other part is the fact that I'm all about the water view, and WL has that. The AKL pools are better and probably remain better even after the renovation. The AKL lobby looks more "fresh" to me and smells amazing. But it's tough to beat the overall WL theme, the view of the lake, Territory Lounge and the relatively calm atmosphere at Roaring Forks (I say relatively because I'm comparing it to Mara.) A smaller pool area isn't always so bad. Actually, the WL pool is one of the few main pools that I haven't found to be crazy crowded. And of course, the boat to MK. Maybe not the fastest mode of transportation, but in my view, the most relaxing way to/fro MK.

Went to the Territory Lounge for a light supper tonight and upon leaving I saw this;

Was it time to change the bulbs in the teepees?

I have no idea, but I'm really looking forward to our light dinner at Territory Lounge in March! Thanks for the happy thought!

 

[Wood Nymph]

This is what I saw when I walked out of our room this morning.



They had blocked off the area that was in front of the Bell Service stand. Then the lifts rolled in the front door.

They were going to replace the rawhide on this chandelier with painted canvas. This is the one they were working on. It is located close to the registration desk. A total of four lifts were used for this process. First they removed the bottom of the chandelier. It was hooked on in three places. Then they lowered it to the ground.






The bottom of the chandelier came off just like a regular light fixture would.



View attachment 324277
When we came back from Epcot they were replacing the teepee fabric. It was a stiff fabric, and they needed four people to put this on. They laid it over the metal frame and secured it on one side. We had to leave before the job was finished. The bottom section was still laying on the floor. They replaced the light bulbs, too.


View attachment 324278

This is the chandelier that is located near the concierge desk. It think that this one has the new painted canvas. The worker pointed to this one when she told me they were using painted canvas instead of rawhide. It was fun to watch the work they were doing.


Then we got on the Magical Express and came home.
We had a great time.

 

[Circusgirl]

I am back home, suffering from oatmeal and cobbler withdrawal and enjoying getting some photos organized to share. I've had two very long days at work, wish I could post more right away but promise to get things posted as I can.

I'll start with some photos of the pool and splash pad area:


DSC_2306 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2343 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2322 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0590 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0589 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_1124 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0607 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2240 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2263 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0572 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0574 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0562 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0975 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0543 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0982 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0981 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0979 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0602 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0992 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0989 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_0985 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr

There is plenty of seating in the splash pad area.


DSC_2215 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2252 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2332 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr

 

[Circusgirl]

DSC_2236 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2228 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr


DSC_2225 by Circusgirl23, on Flickr

 

[cakebaker]

Thanks for the close up pics, especially of the splash pad area. I'm so excited about our June trip, I can hardly stand it!

Our last stay at the lodge was in 2003, lots of trips to other resorts in between, but I've always wanted to come back!!

 

[danikoski]

I am really enjoying this thread-Can our trip for Feb 26-March 2, 2015 be added to the front page?
What would be the correct terminology for requesting a room on the same wing as Roaring Forks with a view of the Electrical Water Pageant.

We had room 5007, it was North Wing, courtyard view...we could walk by Roaring Forks everyday and we could see the EWP from our room...although my DH would go outside to the boat dock to watch it almost every night...if we stay at WL again, I'd book a courtyard view, north wing, 5th or 4th floor. Hope that helps.