Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[MaggiesMomNJ]

I am just curious if anyone knows how long the construction is scheduled to go for. Is it going to be still going on in Dec?

I read here I think until 2017. Check out page 1 of the WL expansion thread.

 

[Princess Michele]

We are planning on eating at Trail's End Restaurant at Ft. Wilderness on our HS day. I am thinking of taking the bus from HS to WL to tour the lodge and see the geyser first. I saw on the first page that the bus trip is about 15 minutes from HS and the boat trip to Ft. Wilderness is about 5 minutes. How often does the boat depart from WL for Ft. Wilderness? This would be around 7:00pm in August if it makes a difference. Thank you.

 

[grimley1968]

We are planning on eating at Trail's End Restaurant at Ft. Wilderness on our HS day. I am thinking of taking the bus from HS to WL to tour the lodge and see the geyser first. I saw on the first page that the bus trip is about 15 minutes from HS and the boat trip to Ft. Wilderness is about 5 minutes. How often does the boat depart from WL for Ft. Wilderness? This would be around 7:00pm in August if it makes a difference. Thank you.

First of all, I would recommend taking the bus to WL, then boat to FW simply for the reason that the FW bus from HS would drop you off at the front of FW, and then you'd have to take the internal bus to the back of FW, where Trail's End is. You basically are making a choice of which transfer you'd prefer: waiting for the internal bus at FW or seeing WL a bit and then waiting for the boat to FW, which goes to the back of FW, within a 5-minute walk of Trail's End. As far as their schedule, the boats will definitely be operating around 7 PM in August. There is a boat route that goes WL->FW->Contemporary, or it might go WL->CR->FW (I can't remember). It's not a quick boat, so if the boat just left the WL dock you could wait 20 minutes or so. But even if you have to wait, I think it's a very nice ride, and kind of an attraction unto itself.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We are planning on eating at Trail's End Restaurant at Ft. Wilderness on our HS day. I am thinking of taking the bus from HS to WL to tour the lodge and see the geyser first. I saw on the first page that the bus trip is about 15 minutes from HS and the boat trip to Ft. Wilderness is about 5 minutes. How often does the boat depart from WL for Ft. Wilderness? This would be around 7:00pm in August if it makes a difference. Thank you.

Sounds like a good plan. Often the bus from HS is shared between WL and FW, but WL will always be the first stop, and as grimley1968 suggested it works well to get off at WL and catch a boat since you would otherwise have to catch an internal FW bus. Your plan to walk around WL sounds great. The boats run continuously in two counter rotating loops on Bay Lake. Usually you won't have to wait more than 10 minutes for one to arrive, and if it is going clockwise you will have a stop at CR first and a slightly longer trip to FW. You could wait for the next boat, which will likely go straight to FW, but we usually just hop on whichever boat is first and enjoy the ride. If you leave yourself 20 min to get from WL to FW, you should be fine either way.

 

[jgabes]

I have always wanted to stay at WL. This will be our 3rd trip to Disney and our first at WL!!! Super excited....7/25-8/4
Thank you for all of the information this thread is providing!!!

 

[WDWKOOK]

The thread says the photos were updated on 6/5/15 but I can't tell which photos those are. Please excuse my magical ignorance here.

I am wondering the same thing.

On the 5th, when I added more photos, I posted this:

I've updated the first two pages with photos from April 2015. I previously posted most of the photos within the thread in April.

Unless you're familiar with the first two pages of the thread, you might not know which ones are newer photos and to someone who has never looked, they're all "new" to them. I only mentioned the newer photos so that those who are more familiar with the information on the first two pages, and therefore don't look there as often, know there are some newer photos and some updated information.




I'll be back later to multi-quote

 

[Melanie415]

I know this is probably very premature but what are your thoughts. I initially wanted to rent points for VWL for October of 2016. From what I understand, one must book these very far in advance (9-11 months out and are non refundable). I'm sure more info. Will come out pertaining to the scope of the construction this summer. Would you risk renting points that far in advance for the villas for The last week of September/first week of October or should I just set my heart on somewhere else to play it safe?

 

[VbChristy]

Arrgh! This is so hard. It sounds like it's getting worse. I could switch right now to a suite at AOA for a little less (better for sleeping situation), but the short commute is perfect from WL. It's our 1st trip with our 2 1/2 year old, and I'm just trying to make it as easy as possible for us in case of meltdowns. But if he can't take naps due to noise, then it doesn't matter anyway, right? I'm sorry I keep posting about this. I want to be patient but I'm worried that if I wait it will be too late.

I'm in the same boat- coming with my son just over 2 at the end of September and we plan to be in the room for nap time each afternoon. I can't have him sleeping with jack hammering.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are planning on eating at Trail's End Restaurant at Ft. Wilderness on our HS day. I am thinking of taking the bus from HS to WL to tour the lodge and see the geyser first. I saw on the first page that the bus trip is about 15 minutes from HS and the boat trip to Ft. Wilderness is about 5 minutes. How often does the boat depart from WL for Ft. Wilderness? This would be around 7:00pm in August if it makes a difference. Thank you.

We like to walk to FW from WL. It is a short walk on the paved nature trail, through the woods, so it is mostly shady, and we have often seen deer, especially at night. The path comes out by the horse stables. There is another path that starts behind the marina and goes along Bay Lake for part of the way. It meets up with the paved path about 2/3rds of the way to FW. Either way will take about 15-20 minutes of walking.

I know this is probably very premature but what are your thoughts. I initially wanted to rent points for VWL for October of 2016. From what I understand, one must book these very far in advance (9-11 months out and are non refundable). I'm sure more info. Will come out pertaining to the scope of the construction this summer. Would you risk renting points that far in advance for the villas for The last week of September/first week of October or should I just set my heart on somewhere else to play it safe?

If you can't rent points until 11 months out then hopefully you'll know by then whether any construction will affect your trip. It is really hard to be kept in the dark like this about the future plans for the WL.

 

[MaggiesMomNJ]

I know I've switched hotels but I still wish they would make an official announcement soon.

 

[eeyore45]

@WDWKOOK Thank you for updating the pages with pictures! I truly love going back and looking through them - usually I find some I hadn't seen before! and when you post New Pictures, yep, I'm one that goes and looks again!

So thank you!

I appreciate the time you take to make this thread informative and fun!

 

[daunty]

How's the noise from construction there today?
Anyone at WL that can report back?

 

[WDWKOOK]

Arrgh! This is so hard. It sounds like it's getting worse. I could switch right now to a suite at AOA for a little less (better for sleeping situation), but the short commute is perfect from WL. It's our 1st trip with our 2 1/2 year old, and I'm just trying to make it as easy as possible for us in case of meltdowns. But if he can't take naps due to noise, then it doesn't matter anyway, right? I'm sorry I keep posting about this. I want to be patient but I'm worried that if I wait it will be too late.

I'm not trying to dissuade you at all from booking WL, but if you're wanting a suite and "a short commute," (I assume to MK?) then have you considered a FW Cabin? Unlike AoA, it only has one bathroom, but it might still be a good fit.

I am just curious if anyone knows how long the construction is scheduled to go for. Is it going to be still going on in Dec?

"Construction" at WL is a wee bit hard to define right now.

There is "construction" going on in the South Wing, across from VWL, to some ground floor rooms. The work is still not being offically defined by management and they are still putting guests near the noise. They have been gutting the rooms so some jackhammering has been occurring and that's been the most recent disruption. Management wouldn't tell a guest when this was due to end.

The scaffolding and associated work, as far as I know, hasn't been disruptive to guests. They haven't been putting guests in rooms behind/near it. The last estimate I heard was that the scaffolding would be up around WL through the end of the year.

The impending huge "construction" event is the WL DVC EXPANSION and according to a construction company filing, it's slated to start in SEP 2015 and end in APRIL 2017. There is no official word yet from Disney about any of this.

I have always wanted to stay at WL. This will be our 3rd trip to Disney and our first at WL!!! Super excited....7/25-8/4
Thank you for all of the information this thread is providing!!!

You're welcome and I'll log your dates. I have a feeling it won't be your last stay

@WDWKOOK Thank you for updating the pages with pictures! I truly love going back and looking through them - usually I find some I hadn't seen before! and when you post New Pictures, yep, I'm one that goes and looks again!

So thank you!

I appreciate the time you take to make this thread informative and fun!

You're so sweet, thank you, @eeyore45. Sounds like you're a little kooky like me when it comes to looking at resort photos, over and over…I really never tire of them.

 

[MrsSkellington]

I'm not trying to dissuade you at all from booking WL, but if you're wanting a suite and "a short commute," (I assume to MK?) then have you considered a FW Cabin? Unlike AoA, it only has one bathroom, but it might still be a good fit.

I had totally forgotten! But they don't have any for our stay anyway. I think I'm just being a nervous nelly anyway. I know that our trip will not be perfect in any way, but I'm trying to control the things I can control, you know? Thanks for bearing with me everyone!

 

[eeyore45]

How's the noise from construction there today?
Anyone at WL that can report back?

I'll be there in 5 days


I'll do my best to try and post a picture, or at least provide an update!

 

[daunty]

I'll be there in 5 days


I'll do my best to try and post a picture, or at least provide an update!

That would be great, thank you.

 

[Abbey71]

Hi. We are heading to WDW 6/22 - 6/29 and will be in a Courtyard view WL room using the summer discount. I switched from POR - royal room when the summer discounts came out, only paying a small amount more over my original reservation at POR. Once I began hearing about the construction I became a little nervous. This is our first trip to Disney and we will be park hopping, but likely most of our time will be at MK. I've always wanted to stay at WL and the boat to MK sounds so convenient. We will also have our car, driving from NC.
So, I had contemplated changing resorts to avoid construction but am just hoping for it to be minimal.
The only place I would want to change to and could afford might be Beach Club or even back to POR - Royal room but I think the deluxe category and having a balcony weighed more on my decision to stay with WL than to switch back to POR. BC is a bit more expensive. I've been using Touring Plans and they do a fax room request. Does anyone know if that gets looked at WL? I was going to request a room like 5077, but have time to change my request if you all have other recommendations. Do you recommend online checkin?
Thanks so much for such an informative thread!

 

[michael's mom]

Hi. We are heading to WDW 6/22 - 6/29 and will be in a Courtyard view WL room using the summer discount. I switched from POR - royal room when the summer discounts came out, only paying a small amount more over my original reservation at POR. Once I began hearing about the construction I became a little nervous. This is our first trip to Disney and we will be park hopping, but likely most of our time will be at MK. I've always wanted to stay at WL and the boat to MK sounds so convenient. We will also have our car, driving from NC.
So, I had contemplated changing resorts to avoid construction but am just hoping for it to be minimal.
The only place I would want to change to and could afford might be Beach Club or even back to POR - Royal room but I think the deluxe category and having a balcony weighed more on my decision to stay with WL than to switch back to POR. BC is a bit more expensive. I've been using Touring Plans and they do a fax room request. Does anyone know if that gets looked at WL? I was going to request a room like 5077, but have time to change my request if you all have other recommendations. Do you recommend online checkin?
Thanks so much for such an informative thread!

I believe you are actually better off requesting the qualities (floor, wing, proximity to certain amenity, etc) that you prefer in a room rather than a specific room # because if that room isn't available they won't know why you requested it.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I know this is probably very premature but what are your thoughts. I initially wanted to rent points for VWL for October of 2016. From what I understand, one must book these very far in advance (9-11 months out and are non refundable). I'm sure more info. Will come out pertaining to the scope of the construction this summer. Would you risk renting points that far in advance for the villas for The last week of September/first week of October or should I just set my heart on somewhere else to play it safe?

Why not just rent a cash room at VWL through Disney? We did that last December and also booked a bounceback for this coming October. We got some awesome pixie dust in December with an upgrade from a 1 bedroom to a 2 bedroom villa at VWL! The rooms in the DVC resorts come online in Disney's cash system 11 months from your check OUT date, and if you rent a villa for cash, you fall under the regular cancellation periods and you're eligible for the same discounts. In December, we rented our villa with a RO discount, which was 35%. Our bounceback for this fall was the same. It's not quite as cheap as renting points, but it's close.

 

[Abbey71]

Thank you @michael's mom. I checked and the touring plans sends the request with the wording "NE facing room in the inner courtyard, so it doesn't look like they request specific numbers, so hopefully this will be fine.
Do you recommend online check in at WL? I am 9 days out today from arrival!