Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[kamcole]

I just wanted to post to say how impressed I am with the WL itinerary planning staff in the conceirge level and we aren't even close to arriving yet. I emailed yesterday to inquire about dairy free availability in the lounge offerings (soy milk, etc) to ensure that I could plan adequately for my son (noting specifically that I was not looking for special accomodations or to request that they stock options for him) and where I could ship items to the resort if needed. Lina was great! She told me not to worry about it - they would let the chef know when we were onsite and that options including soy milk would be available for him. Everytime we travel to the World, I continue to be impressed with how well they assist guests with allergies. It's one of the few places we can take my son (age 4) and he can eat easily and have a lot of the same "treats" as the rest of us.

 

[skuttle]

The Activity Calendar is posted online after the month begins, but you will have it at check-in on 4/1.

Thanks! WDW sent us an email with a link to activities, but the calendar was just for March so that makes sense. I'm just so anxious! LOL!

Our kids still don't know we are going, so it's very hard to contain the excitement!! My DH and I text constantly back and forth about the trip so the kids don't accidentally overhear us!

 

[TinkPirateMom]

Have a great trip Kook!!!

 

[KCNat]

Hi all!
We are heading to the Wilderness Lodge two weeks from tomorrow!!!!! Can't wait!!!

Could someone please clarify what the construction situation is at the WL? Just read and saw a picture of scaffolding? What is the story there?
Thanks, Nat

 

[hill6]

Kook have a great trip.

 

[kat_lh]

Hi All,

This is my first post on disboards and I just had to say thanks to everyone has shared the wealth of knowledge! Our family is making our first trip May 21-26 and staying at Wilderness Lodge and we're so excited! It's myself, my husband, our two girls (6 & 4) and our 8 month old son. We've booked a bunk bed room and I just did online check in requesting highest floor. It would be nice to be able to see the fireworks but the 60 day online check in is as much work as I'm going to put in to it! (I'm way too busy stalking A&E FP+!).

I haven't read this thread in about a week and I'm sure it's posted somewhere else so forgive me if I'm being lazy but, does anyone know the transportation arrangements for the 24 hours of MK that they will be doing?

We have 6:10 AM (!!!) FP+ for A&E and I'm just not sure how we'll be able to get there since we won't have a car with us. I'm assuming though that Disney, as always, has this covered.

My sister and her family stayed at WL a few years ago and just raved about it so we can't wait to experience for ourselves!

 

[jh91]

I'm not sure if people have seen this news but there was a construction permit filed for WL and it does not expire until 12/17/2017. In this thread http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/wilderness-lodge-rehab.897594/ they are speculating it might have to do with converting rooms on the south wing to DVC rooms which i know Kook has mentioned a few times as a possibility.
I will be curious to see where this goes. We will be at VWL in October and we were also there last Oct when all the pool construction was happening, so i am praying our trip this year will not again be filled with construction.

 

[JKSWonder]

If the permit was just filed, what does that mean in terms of work commencement? I didn't see on there a start date for work, just the expiration date of 12/17/17.

We are due at WL at the end of August. Last year I had to switch us from the WL to the Poly to CR due to construction and I REALLY don't want to have to go through that again.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi All,

This is my first post on disboards and I just had to say thanks to everyone has shared the wealth of knowledge! Our family is making our first trip May 21-26 and staying at Wilderness Lodge and we're so excited! It's myself, my husband, our two girls (6 & 4) and our 8 month old son. We've booked a bunk bed room and I just did online check in requesting highest floor. It would be nice to be able to see the fireworks but the 60 day online check in is as much work as I'm going to put in to it! (I'm way too busy stalking A&E FP+!).

I haven't read this thread in about a week and I'm sure it's posted somewhere else so forgive me if I'm being lazy but, does anyone know the transportation arrangements for the 24 hours of MK that they will be doing?

We have 6:10 AM (!!!) FP+ for A&E and I'm just not sure how we'll be able to get there since we won't have a car with us. I'm assuming though that Disney, as always, has this covered.

My sister and her family stayed at WL a few years ago and just raved about it so we can't wait to experience for ourselves!

Congratulations, and welcome! The DIS is such a great wealth of knowledge, and this thread is so friendly and welcoming that it is a great place to start.

We love WL, especially because everything is under one roof in a great location. You really can't go too wrong with room location at WL, and you might be surprised by getting a location that you wouldn't have requested and wind up really enjoying.

As for the transportation during the 24 hour events, you can be confident that it will be possible. I am sure that at least the buses will be running, so I would plan on that and arrive at the bus stop at least an hour before you want to be at the FP+, knowing that the ride will only take 5 min but the wait for the bus could be 20-30 min if they aren't running many buses. Then you'll have half an hour to get through security, into the park, and over to A&E. It will be an early morning, but then perhaps you can get a good breakfast somewhere.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I'm not sure if people have seen this news but there was a construction permit filed for WL and it does not expire until 12/17/2017. In this thread http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/wilderness-lodge-rehab.897594/ they are speculating it might have to do with converting rooms on the south wing to DVC rooms which i know Kook has mentioned a few times as a possibility.
I will be curious to see where this goes. We will be at VWL in October and we were also there last Oct when all the pool construction was happening, so i am praying our trip this year will not again be filled with construction.

If the permit was just filed, what does that mean in terms of work commencement? I didn't see on there a start date for work, just the expiration date of 12/17/17.

We are due at WL at the end of August. Last year I had to switch us from the WL to the Poly to CR due to construction and I REALLY don't want to have to go through that again.

While construction is always a possibility, I doubt that anything this year will compare with the work being done last Fall. At least the main pool area will be open, because it has just been redone. Converting rooms to DVC would affect room inventory and could mean some local work, but likely wouldn't affect most of the Lodge and common areas.

Enjoy your trips and the regular planning that goes into them, and I'd try not to worry too much about potential construction.

 

[kat_lh]

Congratulations, and welcome! The DIS is such a great wealth of knowledge, and this thread is so friendly and welcoming that it is a great place to start.

We love WL, especially because everything is under one roof in a great location. You really can't go too wrong with room location at WL, and you might be surprised by getting a location that you wouldn't have requested and wind up really enjoying.

As for the transportation during the 24 hour events, you can be confident that it will be possible. I am sure that at least the buses will be running, so I would plan on that and arrive at the bus stop at least an hour before you want to be at the FP+, knowing that the ride will only take 5 min but the wait for the bus could be 20-30 min if they aren't running many buses. Then you'll have half an hour to get through security, into the park, and over to A&E. It will be an early morning, but then perhaps you can get a good breakfast somewhere.

Thanks for the reassurance! I figured Disney would have it set up We have 10:20 ADR's for CRT so we'll probably take breakfast snacks with us. The girls want to meet princesses that day, so I might let hubs and baby sleep in and just meet us at CRT while we see how many autographs we can get in that time!

 

[eeyore45]

Hi All,

This is my first post on disboards and I just had to say thanks to everyone has shared the wealth of knowledge! Our family is making our first trip May 21-26 and staying at Wilderness Lodge and we're so excited! It's myself, my husband, our two girls (6 & 4) and our 8 month old son. We've booked a bunk bed room and I just did online check in requesting highest floor. It would be nice to be able to see the fireworks but the 60 day online check in is as much work as I'm going to put in to it! (I'm way too busy stalking A&E FP+!).

I haven't read this thread in about a week and I'm sure it's posted somewhere else so forgive me if I'm being lazy but, does anyone know the transportation arrangements for the 24 hours of MK that they will be doing?

We have 6:10 AM (!!!) FP+ for A&E and I'm just not sure how we'll be able to get there since we won't have a car with us. I'm assuming though that Disney, as always, has this covered.

My sister and her family stayed at WL a few years ago and just raved about it so we can't wait to experience for ourselves!

That does indeed sound like fun!

I've not experienced 24 hour MK opening! I'm sure GrandCalifornia is correct, I'd look in to the busses, but I'm sure you can ask at the desk/concierge when you check in as well!

Hope you'll come back and post about your experience!

 

[pas130]

Kook I missed your sendoff Sorry my friend, have an amazing trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ttfn3]

Hello again from the lovely Wilderness Lodge - where I am listening to the lovely sounds of cowbells lol. I keep thinking of Will Ferrell & SNL - can always use more cowbells Spending a leisurely down day at the resort. Lots of outside work going on here. Painting of the ceiling on the walk way to the bus stop plus some caulking. Lot of work on the inner courtyard of the north wing. It hasn't disturbed our visit. Sorta fascinating to watch the workers high on the scaffolding. Here's a picture from today of the construction plus a bonus picture.

 

[alhurricane]

Any idea how long the scaffolding is supposed to be up?

 

[kat_lh]

Question for those who have stayed at WL with small crawling, exploring babies - should we bring outlet covers or are the outlets hidden/out of reach enough that we don't really need to worry about it?

 

[ttfn3]

Question for those who have stayed at WL with small crawling, exploring babies - should we bring outlet covers or are the outlets hidden/out of reach enough that we don't really need to worry about it?

We are still at the Lodge for one more night so I checked the outlets. One outlet is down low on the wall next to one of the beds. It has 2 plugs so you may want to bring a couple of outlet covers. The rest are either hidden behind a nightstand or up higher so shouldn't be a problem with a crawling child.

 

[ttfn3]

Last night we were in our room when the MK fireworks started. I took a walk outside through the employee parking lot in front of the lodge (towards the North). You can see the MK fireworks and Cinderella' s Castle beyond the monorail. I think I'll head back out there tonight to see the fireworks. Oh I also tried to access the viewing area on the 4th floor that is mentioned in this thread (near 4019?). The door is locked and there is a sign that they are doing some work on the area. It may be another section of the north side that has scaffolding up.

It's a rainy afternoon here at the Lodge. I'm looking forward to dinner at the WCC tonight. Perfect for a rainy night.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Last night we were in our room when the MK fireworks started. I took a walk outside through the employee parking lot in front of the lodge (towards the North). You can see the MK fireworks and Cinderella' s Castle beyond the monorail. I think I'll head back out there tonight to see the fireworks. Oh I also tried to access the viewing area on the 4th floor that is mentioned in this thread (near 4019?). The door is locked and there is a sign that they are doing some work on the area. It may be another section of the north side that has scaffolding up.

It's a rainy afternoon here at the Lodge. I'm looking forward to dinner at the WCC tonight. Perfect for a rainy night.

Thanks for the update. We have caught some of the fireworks from in front of the lodge, and also saw them from the windows in the North wing hallways, near 6035. The viewing area in the front of the resort (I believe on the 4th floor) sounds like it was the one you couldn't get to, and might be a good spot too.

Enjoy your WCC dinner and one more wonderful night at WL.

 

[dprincessmom]

Thanks for the reassurance! I figured Disney would have it set up We have 10:20 ADR's for CRT so we'll probably take breakfast snacks with us. The girls want to meet princesses that day, so I might let hubs and baby sleep in and just meet us at CRT while we see how many autographs we can get in that time!

Last year we did the 24 hour event. We got to the bus stop at 5 and were on the first bus (we were at POR). If you can get the hubs and baby up and moving with you all. I sent DSis and DD ahead and dealt with bag check - it was a little crazy that morning but such a fun atmosphere. We met up inside the park at town hall and headed on our way. With the FP that you have, I would get thru bag check and then move to one of the tunnel sides. It is like a huge street party and even though it was early everyone was having fun. We did a late breakfast and then headed back to the resort until later that evening and stayed until close the following day.

Go and have fun, Disney will get you there in plenty of time