Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[Wood Nymph]

Do you think there will be greater discounts because of the construction?

It's hard to predict what the discounts will be. There wasn't a discount for the WL rooms when the main pool was under construction last fall. But they did give guests a $50 per day room credit if they asked for it. There is no guarantee they would do something like that again.

 

[margot31]

Do you think there will be greater discounts because of the construction?

Its very hard. I find you have to keep calling to see what is available. When I first made my reservation it was a military discount and for the rooms that they had available I didn't need that much room or want to pay that price.....I kept calling every so many weeks and finally able to get a military discount on a room that I needed.

 

[larissawbb]

Disney also has a car rental service on property....you just have to be back by 8.....so it may be cheaper to do that too

This could be a good option too because we want to go to universal for three days.

 

[WhoDatDisney]

Ok fellow Disboarders! Does anyone have any inside info on when the Wilderness Lodge tree is going up this year???? I have searched, and it seems it went up about nine or ten days out every year except last year.....we are there Nov. 14-18, so that window would cover our stay All any CM will say is that it's before Thanksgiving, but I know there is a schedule Thanks!

We have been there the last 3 years for TG arriving Thursday before.

IIRC it went up on Sunday night before thanksgiving last year. Prior two years it was already up when we got there. Hopefully you will get to see it and the decorations while you are there.

 

[mastermind307]

Just got home today from our first stay at the VWL. We really enjoyed it, it was so peaceful and a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the parks. The only thing we wish is that Roaring Forks had more selections.
Buses were great except for Hollywood Studios on Monday (Columbus Day), it was absolutely awful. But then again HS was horrible too, just way too crowded for our taste. We loved the boat to and from MK, such a nice way to get back to WL.
While I'll be glad to sleep in my own bed tonight, it is sad our Disney vacation is over.

 

[WDWKOOK]

In exactly 4 weeks "Cousins Trip" will begin at WL......getting super excited!!

Even less now

We are going to be at WL staying club level Oct 26-Nov 1. We also stayed at the Lodge last Sept when the pool was closed. We were in room 6100 and loved it, but wanted to come back to be able to use the pool and see old faithful. Now that we are getting closer to our trip, I am getting nervous because I see the closures start on our arrival day. I did have someone call and talk to me about it, but I figured it wouldn't bother us at all since the construction is in the villas. Now, I am reading about all the people who have "jumped ship" and wonder if I made the right choice. But at this point, I am thinking what will be will be. We will have fun regardless after all, it's Disney World.

Are you staying in a Deluxe room again? If you are, you might want to request the North Wing. Any construction that would be going on in the beginning, will most likely all be in the South Wing area. The Deluxe rooms at the very end of the South Wing will (eventually) face the new restaurant construction.

We arrived on Saturday and are enjoying our stay. We landed at 11:45 and arrived at the lodge at 1:30. Of course we went the wrong way at the airport so it took us a little while to find the Magical Express. We waited about 10 minutes to board the bus and we were the 3rd stop. I received a text and email that our room was ready so once we arrived we went straight to our room. Magic bands worked fine.

We are in a studio 3505 and it has a woods view and I can see the pool throught some holes in the trees. It is a good location as we are right by the stairway, just around the corner from the elevators, and the bus stop is close. I was worried about the noise because Saturday night I heard lots of it, but last night it was fairly quiet. The bed is a little hard in my opinion. DH thinks it's fine. DD is sleeping on the fold down bed, it is the perfect size for her.

Bus service has been good so far. This morning will be the first time catching a bus for rope drop so we'll see how that goes. We had a pre-park opening at Tusker House yesterday morning.
I don't notice any construction except for the scaffolding on the main lodge.

We went the wrong way, too. It's so easy to do that, especially if you've never taken ME. Hope the rest of your stay was magical.

According to 2 different Taxi Fare Estimators, between $53 - $55.

Excellent detective work

Ok fellow Disboarders! Does anyone have any inside info on when the Wilderness Lodge tree is going up this year???? I have searched, and it seems it went up about nine or ten days out every year except last year.....we are there Nov. 14-18, so that window would cover our stay All any CM will say is that it's before Thanksgiving, but I know there is a schedule Thanks!

I'll log your dates in POST 1. I don't have any inside info., but in the CHRISTMASTIME chapter of the thread, these were the past dates:

Decorations begin going up around the week prior to Thanksgiving Week. In 2014 the tree went up overnight on 11/24. In 2013, the tree went up on 11/19.

Just got home today from our first stay at the VWL. We really enjoyed it, it was so peaceful and a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the parks. The only thing we wish is that Roaring Forks had more selections.

Buses were great except for Hollywood Studios on Monday (Columbus Day), it was absolutely awful. But then again HS was horrible too, just way too crowded for our taste. We loved the boat to and from MK, such a nice way to get back to WL.

While I'll be glad to sleep in my own bed tonight, it is sad our Disney vacation is over.

Thanks for posting about your stay and I hope you get to book another stay soon

 

[NotTheBatesMotel]

My husband and I are (hopefully!) making a short trip to Wilderness Lodge 11/30-12/3. Nothing like last minute, but we are waiting for the official time off approval from his work. We stayed at Fort Wilderness with our then 2.5 year old son this past Feb. and had an AMAZING time. This is an adults-only, very belated anniversary trip so we wanted something a little fancier and couldn't resist picking this resort after seeing pictures of the Christmas decorations. Thanks for all of the helpful info in this thread!

 

[goopysolelady]

I'll log your dates in POST 1. I don't have any inside info., but in the CHRISTMASTIME chapter of the thread, these were the past dates:

Decorations begin going up around the week prior to Thanksgiving Week. In 2014 the tree went up overnight on 11/24. In 2013, the tree went up on 11/19.

I like seeing that date "11/19...our arrival date in 31 days!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Hey guys, we check into VWL last night and just did a little construction recon. There is a small amount of scaffolding on the main lodge facing the villas for the tuck pointing/maintenance work. It's one "bay" of the Lodge and not intrusive at all. We have a room overlooking the villas pool and can't hear a thing from that work.

Beach is still open. There is a surveying crew down at the Hidden Springs pool now...they are on the north side of the pool and seem to be surveying across the pool to the south. Didn't get a chance to walk into the woods yet...it is windy and surprisingly cool this morning so we headed back inside. I'll try to check more later.

I couldn't find the construction thread (posting from my phone) so if someone wants to C&P this post to there, that would be fine with me.

 

[dansdad]

Hey guys, we check into VWL last night and just did a little construction recon.

Snip....

I couldn't find the construction thread (posting from my phone) so if someone wants to C&P this post to there, that would be fine with me.

Done! It was on page 6, no wonder you couldn't find it.

 

[Ddp3]

New to the boards. Staying at WL Dec.20-25. Beyond excited!!!!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Somewhere up thread someone asked about the movie under the stars on Halloween. I can confirm that as of Sunday (the night we checked in), the movies have been moved inside to VWL. So the Halloween activities flyer is wrong...there is no way they'll be showing movies outside in 11 days. Fence posts were installed along the beach today and there is a temporary fence up tonight. I assume the permanent fence will be up by the end of the week.

 

[kmorlock]

Somewhere up thread someone asked about the movie under the stars on Halloween. I can confirm that as of Sunday (the night we checked in), the movies have been moved inside to VWL. So the Halloween activities flyer is wrong...there is no way they'll be showing movies outside in 11 days. Fence posts were installed along the beach today and there is a temporary fence up tonight. I assume the permanent fence will be up by the end of the week.

Thanks for all the updates! We will miss WL so much this time around. I'm still trying to make myself excited about Contemporary...

 

[mrsap]

Hey everyone!! I'm so excited to be 30 days out from being back in Disney!!! (37 till we're back at the Lodge!!!) Time cannot go fast enough!! My kids are really looking forward to to going back to 'the hotel with the awesome potato chips and the room with the food!' Lol Going to start packing this weekend!!! Anyone else starting to pack for their November trips?!

To anyone leaving this week, have a great time!!!!!!!!

 

[goopysolelady]

Hey everyone!! I'm so excited to be 30 days out from being back in Disney!!! (37 till we're back at the Lodge!!!) Time cannot go fast enough!! My kids are really looking forward to to going back to 'the hotel with the awesome potato chips and the room with the food!' Lol Going to start packing this weekend!!! Anyone else starting to pack for their November trips?!

To anyone leaving this week, have a great time!!!!!!!!

I was actually thinking about the packing earlier today! Trying to figure out how we're going to get luggage for 5 females in the van along with 6 people! DSIL decided he wanted to drive us to the airport so we wouldn't have to pay for parking but I'm thinking..."that's a spot we could put luggage"! I think I might be shipping a few packages home since I plan on Christmas shopping in Disney Springs!

 

[mrsap]

I was actually thinking about the packing earlier today! Trying to figure out how we're going to get luggage for 5 females in the van along with 6 people! DSIL decided he wanted to drive us to the airport so we wouldn't have to pay for parking but I'm thinking..."that's a spot we could put luggage"! I think I might be shipping a few packages home since I plan on Christmas shopping in Disney Springs!

OMG! You might need to ask another friend if they'd mind driving all of your luggage to the airport!!!!!! I cannot even imagine what that will look like!!!!! LOL good luck and have a great time!!!!!!!!

 

[goopysolelady]

OMG! You might need to ask another friend if they'd mind driving all of your luggage to the airport!!!!!! I cannot even imagine what that will look like!!!!! LOL good luck and have a great time!!!!!!!!

My thoughts exactly...DH may have make the trip to the airport too...especially when we return !

 

[WDWKOOK]

My husband and I are (hopefully!) making a short trip to Wilderness Lodge 11/30-12/3. Nothing like last minute, but we are waiting for the official time off approval from his work. We stayed at Fort Wilderness with our then 2.5 year old son this past Feb. and had an AMAZING time. This is an adults-only, very belated anniversary trip so we wanted something a little fancier and couldn't resist picking this resort after seeing pictures of the Christmas decorations. Thanks for all of the helpful info in this thread!

Welcome! Did you get your leave approved?

Done! It was on page 6, no wonder you couldn't find it.

Nice work and thank you

New to the boards. Staying at WL Dec.20-25. Beyond excited!!!!

to the DIS and the WL/VWL thread @Ddp3. Is this your first stay at WL? I'll add your dates to the Lodgers' Log

Somewhere up thread someone asked about the movie under the stars on Halloween. I can confirm that as of Sunday (the night we checked in), the movies have been moved inside to VWL. So the Halloween activities flyer is wrong...there is no way they'll be showing movies outside in 11 days. Fence posts were installed along the beach today and there is a temporary fence up tonight. I assume the permanent fence will be up by the end of the week.

Hope you're having a magical vacation!

I was actually thinking about the packing earlier today! Trying to figure out how we're going to get luggage for 5 females in the van along with 6 people! DSIL decided he wanted to drive us to the airport so we wouldn't have to pay for parking but I'm thinking..."that's a spot we could put luggage"! I think I might be shipping a few packages home since I plan on Christmas shopping in Disney Springs!

You crack me up

 

[WDWKOOK]

Just a reminder that these closures are due to take effect Monday:

~Recreational and leisure amenities are due to be impacted/closed beginning 26 October 2015. This does not mean that some work will not begin earlier, but this is the official closure date for closures.

~ Major impact/closure will be to the VWL pool and the beach, to include the fire pit and playground. The nearest free nightly marshmallow roast is located at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Fort Wilderness offers the Chip 'N Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long. The Sing-A-Long is free, but there is a small charge for the S'Mores kits.


~The Teton Boat and Bike rental and nature trail that begins just behind it will also be closed. However, bike rentals will still be available and nightly movies will instead be shown indoors in the VWL lobby. The spa treatments located within Sturdy Branches will also close. The nearest spa treatments/massages are located next door at Disney's Contemporary Resort and at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.​

 

[funkydelia]

Just arrived home from 2 weeks at the lodge. Our room was amazing. 6016 so with an enclosed balcony (a bonus with our kids) and a ringside view of wishes due to a hole in the tree line!! I requested it through touring plans and got the exact room.
I literally can't fault anything there. There was some scaffolding around the north tower but but it was very quiet where we were which was handy for the pool, boat dock, roaring forks, elevators and laundry.
Googling who might want to buy my kidney to fund the return trip!!!