Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[tarak]

NEW TOUR!

ESCAPE TO WALT'S WILDERNESS RESORT

I can't wait to take this tour!​

Ooh - that sounds like so much fun!

My magic bands shipped - so in 27 days, we'll be checking into the WL!

Oops - that should have been bands. Magic hands sounds dirty...

 

[2golftoday]

We have a reservation for Dec 11-16 at WL CL. Will the construction affect the club level rooms?

 

[wifey]

Got this booked for my family, the CM Bernice was amazing helpful and courteous and helped me get this booked today for my birthday next month and a cabana over at Typhoon Lagoon a couple of days before then. Glad to know this was available I think it will be very popular with guests in the future.

 

[roydavid7771]

This is me freaking out again.....does anyone have any recent pics of the construction going on? I just got the DVCNews.com newsletter this week, and ere is a ton of scaffolding up! Please tell me that's an old pic......we'll be there in three weeks!

 

[disneymom06]

Just fyi, we were at WL from 7/12-7/17. Standard room, north side 4th floor above work area. Outside our balcony, to the right was scaffolding all around that section.the blinds were tilted up as we walked to the elevator to get to roaring forks to avoid sight of the scaffolding. On 7/13 we returned from breakfast to see workers and scaffolding going up right outside our balcony. You could reach out a touch someone. After much communication with the concierge, we were moved, but even they were surprised with the work. I was told that yes, the villas had an 18 month project just beginning and it would be noisy between 9-5.

Staff was very helpful, but I did not enjoy having to pack up again. If we decided to go back, it will not be for 2 years. There is something being worked on all over. It is a beautiful resort though.

 

[themillersdaughter]

we will be arriving 9.17 and departing 9.26- when i made FP+ rez- i saw that online check in was an option. we are currently booked for a courtyard room, is there an advantage to doing online check-in?

our travel agent kinda poofed, and fell off the face of the earth, so i doubt our room requests ever went through. if i check in online, will i be able to make the same requests? we plan on going back to the resort midday to take breaks during our trip. i sleep through everything but my other half is a lighter sleeper, so i'm concerned about the noise from construction. thanks for the help!

 

[Mygirls00]

Mygirls00 - I got the same email. I am arriving on Thursday - have a great stay!

Awesome!! I hope you have a great stay as well!!

 

[jgabes]

I have reservations next week for Chef Mickey's at 5:15. What time do you suggest we be at the boat dock? Thank you!!! So excited!!

 

[merdie]

Does anyone know if I can buy autograph books in the gift shop at WL? I'm trying to avoid a trip to the Disney store!

 

[FunkyDuckToo]

Please remove me from the Log (Oct 25-29). We have moved to BC due to the construction. Just did not want to take a chance and stress over the next 3 months. I love the Lodge and will miss it. Thank you to the wonderful people who run this thread! I will definitely be monitoring the progress of WL!!

 

[woodynjessiesmomma]

Beautifully done thread.
We are planning our first WL stay this fall as DH has always wanted to stay here.
We just switched from BLT to WL woods view room for October 16-21 for the late fall discount (someday I will stay at BLT/CR which is my dream resort), but reading through the construction thread is a bit scary. I will be at an off-site conference during the day and DH and I will be going mostly to F&WF. DH will be hanging around WL during the day (no kids on this trip). As long as there aren't workers on his balcony he will be fine. I'm thinking we'll be ok and I want to request a North wing lobby room to maybe see Wishes and cut down on views of construction.?.

 

[DEJ07]

Thanks to Orbitz we moved from Pop to Wilderness Lodge! We're so excited for our first WL stay October 17-25. I'm really hoping they stick with the construction not starting until the 26th, but if it starts earlier we'll stick it out. Thanks WDWKOOK for putting together such a helpful thread.

 

[dansdad]

Does anyone know if I can buy autograph books in the gift shop at WL? I'm trying to avoid a trip to the Disney store!

I don't know about the WL gift shop in particular but I can say that the gift shop in every resort we have stayed on property has had them for sale. BC, YC, BWI, CBR, POR, POFQ, and all 3 All Stars have had them. I think your odds are pretty good.

 

[Daisyfay]

We are staying at WL starting on 8/1. I received an email from DVC today. Has anyone else gotten this? The family we're traveling with didn't receive it.


Dear ##### Family,

In celebration of the newest Disney Vacation Club Resort, Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, you are invited to an hour-long Luau experience and presentation that will transport you to paradise with Polynesian entertainment, complimentary appetizers and a tropical beverage. You will also be introduced to the fantastic world of vacations available through Disney Vacation Club. Afterwards, take a tour of the newest and largest Deluxe Studios at Walt Disney World® Resort and the spectacular, over-the-water Two-Bedroom Bungalows. A Disney Vacation Club Guide will also be available to answer any questions you may have about your future vacation needs.

Date: August 3, 2015

Time: 5:00pm, Please arrive promptly at 4:45pm for check-in.

Location: Luau Cove at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort,Locationi: 1600 Seven Seas Dr., Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

 

[michael's mom]

We are staying at WL starting on 8/1. I received an email from DVC today. Has anyone else gotten this? The family we're traveling with didn't receive it.


Dear ##### Family,

In celebration of the newest Disney Vacation Club Resort, Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, you are invited to an hour-long Luau experience and presentation that will transport you to paradise with Polynesian entertainment, complimentary appetizers and a tropical beverage. You will also be introduced to the fantastic world of vacations available through Disney Vacation Club. Afterwards, take a tour of the newest and largest Deluxe Studios at Walt Disney World® Resort and the spectacular, over-the-water Two-Bedroom Bungalows. A Disney Vacation Club Guide will also be available to answer any questions you may have about your future vacation needs.

Date: August 3, 2015

Time: 5:00pm, Please arrive promptly at 4:45pm for check-in.

Location: Luau Cove at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort,Locationi: 1600 Seven Seas Dr., Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

Sounds fun! Haven't seen one of those before

 

[StephandDick]

Sounds fun! Haven't seen one of those before

We are staying at WL starting on 8/1. I received an email from DVC today. Has anyone else gotten this? The family we're traveling with didn't receive it.


Dear ##### Family,

In celebration of the newest Disney Vacation Club Resort, Disney's Polynesian Villas & Bungalows, you are invited to an hour-long Luau experience and presentation that will transport you to paradise with Polynesian entertainment, complimentary appetizers and a tropical beverage. You will also be introduced to the fantastic world of vacations available through Disney Vacation Club. Afterwards, take a tour of the newest and largest Deluxe Studios at Walt Disney World® Resort and the spectacular, over-the-water Two-Bedroom Bungalows. A Disney Vacation Club Guide will also be available to answer any questions you may have about your future vacation needs.

Date: August 3, 2015

Time: 5:00pm, Please arrive promptly at 4:45pm for check-in.

Location: Luau Cove at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort,Locationi: 1600 Seven Seas Dr., Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

We got the same email but did not go (checked out 7/19). I would have gone if we had time though.

 

[KristiK]

Does anyone know if I can buy autograph books in the gift shop at WL? I'm trying to avoid a trip to the Disney store!

We got one at the gift shop at WL

 

[LynJ]

Does anyone know the location of the woods view hearing accessible rooms at WL? This is our first time at WL, and we specifically will have a hearing accessible room.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have a reservation for Dec 11-16 at WL CL. Will the construction affect the club level rooms?

Some of the club level rooms wouldn't be affected by the villas pool construction, especially those rooms that are facing the inner courtyard and in the north wing since the villas pool construction would be near the south wing courtyard view rooms. You can send an email to IPO and ask for a room away from the construction area.

we will be arriving 9.17 and departing 9.26- when i made FP+ rez- i saw that online check in was an option. we are currently booked for a courtyard room, is there an advantage to doing online check-in?

our travel agent kinda poofed, and fell off the face of the earth, so i doubt our room requests ever went through. if i check in online, will i be able to make the same requests? we plan on going back to the resort midday to take breaks during our trip. i sleep through everything but my other half is a lighter sleeper, so i'm concerned about the noise from construction. thanks for the help!

I think Kook has is a list of options for online check in requests on the first page of this thread. The online options are limited to picking a floor or near an elevator, etc. If you want a specific request then call resort reservations and have the request added to your room requests. I like to use online check in so that the resort will know what time we plan to arrive. We have had our room ready for us when we have arrived around 11am on just about every trip since using online check in.

I have reservations next week for Chef Mickey's at 5:15. What time do you suggest we be at the boat dock? Thank you!!! So excited!!

The boat ride to the Contemporary just takes about 5 minutes, but you need to wait for a boat to arrive, first. They are usually on a 20 minute schedule but that can get messed up during the dinner hour when they runn extra boats to Fort Wilderness for Hoop Dee Doo Revue. I would count a at least a half hour to get to the CR. You can always do a little exploring if you are early.

 

[xlsm]

Just back last night from our stay on 7/13 - 7/21. We were in the South wing, 5th floor, room 5117, which is a bunk bed courtyard view (my requests were 5th floor, near elevator, lake view). The scaffolding, as others have mentioned, is up at the front of the resort, but we didn't feel it was that noticeable. This was the view from our room:


You could see the EWP in the evening, and as you can see, pretty morning views of the lake and pool area.

We used the first floor elevator when going back and forth from the pool, and the hallway is completely blocked off:



As for construction noise, it really must just be where you're located, because we heard nothing. Every now and then we'd hear something that sounded like people moving furniture, but that's it. No hammering, no jackhammering, no nothin' (except for loud guests in the hallway and the occasional toilet flush). On our next to last afternoon, we did receive a hanger on our door announcing potential noise beginning at 9am through 7pm in the evenings. I think I kept it, and I'll snap a picture and share it if I did. I'm really pretty sure it's in the bag of park maps and such that I kept. For reference, we were in the room off and on at all hours, because we take afternoon breaks, and had some later mornings.

**Editing to add the photo of the paper that was on our door:



The only issue we encountered was that I didn't get the "your room is ready" text that we were supposed to get, so upon our late arrival (close to 1am), the lobby was deserted and we had to wait for quite awhile before anyone came out of the office area behind the check-in desk to give us our room assignment.

After that, everything was golden, cast members were great and we enjoyed the coffee offerings in the morning at Territory Lounge, some great snacks and QS at Roaring Forks, a fabulous dinner at Artist Point, and a fun last morning breakfast at Whispering Canyon (which was held at Artist Point because floors were being waxed or something in the actual Whispering Canyon. While we were eating, it was the end of breakfast service and they had to drag everything back over there from AP. We felt bad for them!)

The pool wasn't very crowded (but the quiet pool was! We wanted to go over before it closes and it was PACKED full and much louder than the main pool...and the main pool had the DJ out and the party going on.) and we always found a chair. I think we were out there every day but one, maybe?

Overall, just another reminder of why we love the Lodge so much, and bit of a downer to think about how we'll be staying somewhere else next time while the DVC work is being done. We have never stayed anywhere else, and while it will be fun to branch out, our heart belongs to the Wilderness Lodge.

I'll have a full trip report starting soon on the TR board