Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[916chipndale]

Does anyone know how the Polynesian bungalows have done so far? I would have figured Disney would at least wait to see how they do before adding them to different resorts. Oh well, I have never stayed at the WL but do think it is a beautiful resort. I guess the one good news is the beach never had a great view so it wont be ruined like the Polynesians view



Edit: Looks like the "bungalows" themselves aren't on the beach so I guess that is good news.

 

[DisFam95]

I hope the "new restaurant" is an expanded food court or additional QS style place.. RF is so tiny as is and now adding more units.

 

[wifey]

Artists Point may change location or the shop may expand if the arcade goes, that could also open up an opportunity to either move or expand Roaring Forks . A real pity the Otter Pond will be gone though and all the lovely trees too. They do seem to have thought about new parking locations though. Will wait and see if there is a big impact on the walking trail and wildlife down to FW. The new buildings may prove interesting down near the boat dock( beach area) and the redesign of the pool at the VWL.

 

[WDWKOOK]

I've just posted details of the Wilderness Lodge DVC Expansion HERE. I thought it might be helpful to post where more might see the information. I will also post the same information here tomorrow.

The permit documents were posted last night to the SFWMD website and I was too busy to immediately gather and review the oodles of information they posted. Thank you to mrsap for posting a link this morning to more information on this breaking news.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Will there be any prior notification on what type of work will be done when?

 

[WDWKOOK]

Will there be any prior notification on what type of work will be done when?

As far as the MK Resorts are concerned, seeing that they did (eventually) send out letters to guests regarding the WL pool closure and they also sent letters to guests regarding the Poly rehab, my assumption is that they will send letters out to WL/VWL guests as well. Shortly after booking, I received a letter from the Poly GM regarding the closure of the "Quiet" pool and other construction during our August stay.

This project is very big and long so I can't imagine the WL GM not sending out letters to guests. WHEN this is done is another question. If, and that's a BIG IF, the work actually does begin in September, perhaps they'll start notifying guests in August.

The hard evidence of this project just became public through the posting of supporting permit documents Friday night, however, the actually work isn't slated to begin until September so there is even the slight possibility that the work will be delayed or even canceled. This happened with the proposed Mediterranean Resort; it got pretty close to this point and was canceled. It could still be a long time before anyone at WL can acknowledge or even knows about the scope of this work, so contacting Disney at this point is futile.

 

[johnsonet]

Thanks for this info, WDWKOOK. We will be at WL in about 60 days and I'm so glad this construction won't have started yet Will be nice to have one last stay before the chaos.

 

[mrsap]

I've just posted details of the Wilderness Lodge DVC Expansion HERE. I thought it might be helpful to post where more might see the information. I will also post the same information here tomorrow.

The permit documents were posted last night to the SFWMD website and I was too busy to immediately gather and review the oodles of information they posted. Thank you to mrsap for posting a link this morning to more information on this breaking news.

Happy to help my fellow Dis'ers!

 

[momtwoboys]

I do find it odd that on the day I book my DVC studio may 15th this news comes out. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. First time choosing WLV and now there may not even be a villa pool to enjoy.

 

[VbChristy]

Ahhh. My stay is Sept 27. And we have a 2 year old that will require naps each day. We really wanted to be 5 min by bus away from the MK. What to do? I'm guessing we should wait and see but this would be very unfortunate if we are hearing construction vehicles for our stay!

 

[momtwoboys]

I'm hoping some WLV rookies can make me feel better about my reservation. Can't change them now. If the construction is really bad by the villas can they move you to a section of the resort that isnt as affected? or will it all be a hot mess. I booked a studio and requested ground floor close to villa pool. OMG

 

[chocolateavocado]

Thanks for posting / sharing this info. We have our 1st WL trip (2nd wdw trip) booked for this Thanksgiving. I think we're going to switch resorts & save WL for when the construction is done. Now, to try to decide on a new place to stay. We've only been to disney once- mid nov 2013 & stayed at the poly. Thinking of doing a split stay - if the r/o discounts come out & are similar to what mousesavers has listed for last year, it looks like the 1st 3 days of our trip may be eligible for a discount, the last 3 rack rate. Either way we're definitely going back- just not sure where to stay. thanks again for all of this info!

 

[hill6]

The scaffolding was put up on the front of the resort on Friday when we were leaving. I did not see f it was on the entire front or just on the side by the bus stops. They were pulling out the stuff between the logs and replacing it.

I talked to a worker doing the work by the pool. He said they were painting and fixing some other issues involving the balcony doors. Which is exactly the work we seen going on.

 

[jh91]

Thanks Kook for all of the great insight. We are scheduled for our 2nd VWL stay October 4-10. We were there last Oct and had to deal with the pool mess. I booked again this year to see the resort finished and enjoy the surrounding grounds.
I know you said estimated start date of September, but is their any indication of when and how much disruption will be occurring in the early stages. My guess is everything will be completely fenced off in the "construction zone" which looks to be a lot. Is there any insights we can gain from the poly renovation in terms of scheduling and early disruption? How long after these types of permits were filed at poly did the really messy work begin?

 

[Octoberbaby]

Our first WL stay is in August. I REALLY loathe construction! I have been very dissatisfied with the look of the Polynesian Resort, and I REALLY hope that we don't have to see hard hats and bulldozers on our first stay at WL. I was told though from my TA that there has been no confirmation from Disney yet. I am glad it isn't scheduled to start until September, but it seems very lengthy, so we won't be returning to the WL until the construction is complete. It seems like every Disney vacation that we have had since 2012 has been full of eyesores! DTD and the Poly construction has gotten under my skin more than the New Fantasyland and HUB construction did! I am crossing my fingers with WL!!

 

[eeyore45]

After seeing and reading all the negative impact the Polynesian is going through with their construction project, I can only imagine what the WL will go through, it was such a diamond, a hidden "gem" so close, yet tucked away in nature. Can you imagine what Christmas will be like at WL?

I don't have a crystal ball, so I have no idea what the future impact will have in the months to come, I imagine no one does. But like everyone else, change - hate change!

 

[MrsSkellington]

Ahhh. My stay is Sept 27. And we have a 2 year old that will require naps each day. We really wanted to be 5 min by bus away from the MK. What to do? I'm guessing we should wait and see but this would be very unfortunate if we are hearing construction vehicles for our stay!

We're staying at the end of October/beginning of November with a 2.5 year old who still naps. I'm going to hang in there until there is reason to worry. If it looks like it will be too disruptive, I'll see if I can talk to someone about requesting a quiet location, or at worst case, try to find another resort. Hoping it won't come to that.

 

[waffocopter]

Aw man, I guess I'll probably be seeing some of that construction in late October too. That'll put a bit of a damper on our first on-site stay.

 

[WDWKOOK]

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to copy/paste my WL DVC Expansion Details thread here, but @DVC Mike has posted some of his great imagery to that thread and I think it would be best that I just link to the thread rather than re-posting it here without DVC Mike's great imagery.

The thread is located HERE and I will also post the link in POST 1.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'm hoping some WLV rookies can make me feel better about my reservation. Can't change them now. If the construction is really bad by the villas can they move you to a section of the resort that isnt as affected? or will it all be a hot mess. I booked a studio and requested ground floor close to villa pool. OMG

Probably not. VWL is a pretty small resort. There are only 20 dedicated and 25 lockoff studios at VWL.