Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[Gryhndmom]

My last trip was Aug 2016, skipped Aug 2017 and went to DL instead! So new security wasn’t implemented yet. Can you explains how it works from WL in the mornings? And how much more time I should leave to get to parks by rope drop. Thanks!

If you take boat to MK there is a separate security line for just the resort area boats (not the ferry boat from tickets and transportation) you can also take the boat to CR and walk to MK which also has a super short security line. If taking the boat we averaged about 30 minutes total (waiting for boat, travel on boat and security line) as for traveling to Epcot, HS and AK on a bus....be prepared for at least an hour total (waiting for bus, travel on bus, additional stop at another resort and the LONG security lines that all the buses feeds into). this past week seemed super crowded so if it is not crowded maybe short wait times overall. If you want to be at front of rope drop I would say allow 1 1/2 hrs travel time.

 

[Cayaco]

Are these lines all day long or just for the rope drop crowd?

 

[Gryhndmom]

Are these lines all day long or just for the rope drop crowd?

For us this past week security lines were really long all morning and went down slightly mid afternoon.

 

[Wood Nymph]

My last trip was Aug 2016, skipped Aug 2017 and went to DL instead! So new security wasn’t implemented yet. Can you explains how it works from WL in the mornings? And how much more time I should leave to get to parks by rope drop. Thanks!

They have the bag check area on the MK boat dock. Both the passengers from FW and WL go through the same bag check area. If your boat arrives at the same time that a FW boat does, then it gets a little crowded. Otherwise, it is fine.

The resort buses have a separate bag check which was a lot faster when we used it then the old combined bag check.

 

[Sue M]

If you take boat to MK there is a separate security line for just the resort area boats (not the ferry boat from tickets and transportation) you can also take the boat to CR and walk to MK which also has a super short security line. If taking the boat we averaged about 30 minutes total (waiting for boat, travel on boat and security line) as for traveling to Epcot, HS and AK on a bus....be prepared for at least an hour total (waiting for bus, travel on bus, additional stop at another resort and the LONG security lines that all the buses feeds into). this past week seemed super crowded so if it is not crowded maybe short wait times overall. If you want to be at front of rope drop I would say allow 1 1/2 hrs travel time.

Thank you.
Are park security lines for Ep, DHS, AK in different place than they used to be where everyone streamed into?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Are these lines all day long or just for the rope drop crowd?

That is the arrangement for bag check for the MK all day long.

 

[Sue M]

They have the bag check area on the MK boat dock. Both the passengers from FW and WL go through the same bag check area. If your boat arrives at the same time that a FW boat does, then it gets a little crowded. Otherwise, it is fine.

The resort buses have a separate bag check which was a lot faster when we used it then the old combined bag check.

Just saw this!

 

[Gryhndmom]

Thank you.
Are park security lines for Ep, DHS, AK in different place than they used to be where everyone streamed into?

Yes from what DH and I remember from Oct 16 to this past week. They have also added a metal detector which for those in bag check get randomly selected to go through.

 

[ArielSRL]

We made our reservations for our return to WL this week! We will be in a Copper Creek 2 bedroom from September 6-12, 2018 and in a Cabin from September 12th-15th. We are all super excited to be returning to WL for many years to come.

Yay!! Good to hear!

I’m behind on your trip report...did I miss any DVC purchases??

 

[ArielSRL]

Are these lines all day long or just for the rope drop crowd?

For us, in June, it was only mornings. We took midday breaks and heading back, there were no security lines.

Epcot and MK on EMH Friday were the worst mornings, though.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Yay!! Good to hear!

I’m behind on your trip report...did I miss any DVC purchases??

Yes, we did purchase at Copper Creek. We just love WL and now it is home. You can read about how it went here.

 

[FancyNancy]

I'm excited to say that we are going to be having our first stay at Wilderness Lodge 8/19-8/26! Two standard view rooms. We are hoping for connecting or adjoining. Can anyone recommend a room # for us with a good view?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I'm excited to say that we are going to be having our first stay at Wilderness Lodge 8/19-8/26! Two standard view rooms. We are hoping for connecting or adjoining. Can anyone recommend a room # for us with a good view?

Congratulations! We love WL, and always have booked Standard view. Our favorite views have been from high floor rooms in the middle of the wing facing towards MK. These rooms are even numbered in the range from x042 to x066 where x is the floor number, and the sixth floor will have the best view in this section. As always with room requests, be aware that it is better to request what you like about a specific area than request a specific room number, because it can be quite difficult with scheduling different arrival and departure dates for a particular room to be available. Also note that in this section of the resort there are not connecting rooms. We have had connecting rooms that open to the lobby (rooms x081-x090), and the view from the door side of the room down into the lobby is really neat, but from the balcony you don't have as clear a view of MK. No matter what you'll be at a great resort, happy planning!

 

[dalmatian7]

On the pool bar service... we were there in Sept at the pool (the old pool with the slide) for at least an hour every day and I didn't know this was a thing because I never once saw a server. We typically hit the chairs by where the slide comes out because our kids were on it constantly. We just brought our own drinks, but as a Disney obsessed person, I would would have taken note of a server I'm sure. I guess we were there when they had the games going on a few of the days so maybe that is why? So either way, I guess service hasn't gotten that much better.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am home from a quick one night, post cruise stay. We were WL newbies but wdw vets. Here are my thoughts:

Booked on chase ultimate rewards portal so the room was "free." That was nice.

Booked BRV deluxe studio, as they called it, because that was all that avail for "free."

We were there by 10ish coming from the cruise and got the room ready text by noon. That was great!

I loved having the couch in lieu of a 2nd bed. There were 5 of us so it gave us extra space during the day. My 2 sons shared the sleeper sofa and the baby was in her pack n play.

We loved the grounds. We are generally yc/BC people, but having the trees and lake to look at made it feel secluded which we really liked.
The pool was lacking for my toddler because the splash area was down Saturday, but was back up and running sunday. The kids enjoyed the big slide even though it is no storm along bay. An aggravating thing was that Sunday I was at the pool with the kids alone. The boys couldn't come in the splash pad since they are too tall and the baby couldn't do much in the big pool. So that was a bit of a dilemma. Not sure how to rectify it.

We saw no pool servers. The drink station and food isn't very convenient to the pool.

The food at that outdoor covered bar area is excellent. We had wings and loaded waffle fries. We also had the crispy chicken sandwich from the quick serve there. They also will make crispy tenders for the kids, even though it isn't on the menu. Those are delicious too. Problem with the area is it stays busy and there isn't near enough seating.

Now our room...uugghh. I don't know if it is customary for dvc buildings to not be up to the standards of the resort buildings, but I was not impressed at all. I won't stay at WL again until the rooms are renovated. Or are the main building rooms better? Our room was awful. I felt dirty the whole time. The couch seemed like it came from goodwill. Stains on carpet. Fruit flies (maybe?) in the bathroom. The plaster walls and dark colors I am sure didn't help matters. Made it feel dirtier than it probably was. Pillows were lumpy. It was bad. I would have been super mad if I were stuck there more than 1 night and/or I had paid actual $400 cash for it. The door knobs in the bathroom didn't even match each other. And the hallways felt like a horror movie scene. Ha! Hopefully a refurb is on the way or maybe the main building is different, because we really like the outside areas.

Bus service was terrible, but what else is new? Haha.

So those are my thoughts. I booked it fairly last minute and didn't research at all since it was such a short stay. So I went in just expecting a nice resort stay and a fresh room. I got half of that.

 

[paradesintherain]

That's strange you felt it was so bad... I thought the DVC rooms had all been more recently updated than regular rooms

 

[Cayaco]

Wow that's terrible. Should WL be downgraded to a moderate? Rooms covered in stains and filled with bugs doesn't sound too appealing.

Worst deluxe on property it sound like.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

That's strange you felt it was so bad... I thought the DVC rooms had all been more recently updated than regular rooms

I thought I read that awhile ago too. I will upload the pics I took later if i can figure out how. Maybe part of the problem is I came from the cruise ship that is pristine. But even so, the room was well below my August stay in POFQ. Def not worth $400+ a night. Hopefully they will refurbish soon because we really like the grounds.

 

[ZebraDomeCrazy]

Good news! It is running today! Didn't get a pic but we did get to play in it for an hour before the tragical depress came.

Tragical Depress!!! That's fantastic!!!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Wow that's terrible. Should WL be downgraded to a moderate? Rooms covered in stains and filled with bugs doesn't sound too appealing.

Worst deluxe on property it sound like.

I have stayed at most of the deluxes, except ssr and okw...it is def the worst in quality of them all. At least my room was. Maybe I just got a bad one since they knew I would only be there for one night.