Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[WDWKOOK]

Hello all, we are going the first week of April and I understand the construction issue. In everyone's opinion would a standard room be ok or should we bump up to a courtyard view? I'm befuddled!

Welcome to the DIS and to the WL/VWL thread, @shmom

At some point, cabin construction will begin and if you're in the North Wing, you might end up with a cabin construction view, unless they take North Wing SV and WV rooms out of inventory. I would recommend a South Wing SV room or a CYV room, which as of now, would be in the North Wing since the South Wing is closed.

After following your posts here and on the BC thread, I know how much you were looking forward to experiencing the CL experience at WL. I think it might be harder for us DISers, who frequently read about others' wonderful experiences, to then put our disappointing experience into a POV that tries to be balanced, fair, and not sound like a demanding, entitled WDW guest. You have every right to expect Disney to make up for the experience you were expecting- this is not the same as complaining about rain! I am so impressed with your equanimity in this post! Most people, especially after a long day with minimal sleep, would not be so nice. Anyhow, I really hope the WL staff goes above and beyond to make this a magical stay for you, in spite of what is missing from everything you expected at CL. The lack of cobbler is unacceptable though!! I would definitely say something about that! Thanks for posting. (I was checking for your post today) Hope your trip ends up being wonderful, in spite of the CL disappointments.

Nicely said, @bluecastle . Sue offers an interesting perspective since she goes multiple times per year to WDW and has stayed at WL many times, but never CL till now. I almost feel like she's staying Club Level Lite (very lite). If I had to compare her stay now with my past stays, I'd be a lot less understanding. I really don't think this was handled well by management.

I am so sorry you are not able to experience the previous OFC "set-up"!!! It was just soooo nice and cozy!!! Everything drinks and food items were accessible/self serve and the staff went over and beyond...the staff will surely make your stay special despite the current challenges in the lounge area!!!
We will staying at Poly first week of Feb and I had been trying for months to switch over to WL CL now I am glad we will be at Poly even with a standard view room!

Hoping you enjoy your Club experience and really hope the cobbler shows up!!!

Did you see my Poly SV photos here? I think you made the right choice.

 

[alhurricane]

Okay, Orbitz now has Standard View rooms for $214 a night for the dates we want to go in April. This is making me rethink my decision of skipping the lodge this trip due to the construction. Decisions....decisions...

 

[rcraw45425]

Okay, Orbitz now has Standard View rooms for $214 a night for the dates we want to go in April. This is making me rethink my decision of skipping the lodge this trip due to the construction. Decisions....decisions...

that's a super price! I'm paying $302/night +tax for SV for March 11-15 with an AP discount. Moved over from a Royal Room at POR as the bus situation there was giving me hives. It's myself and my almost 19 yo daughter, it's her college spring break this time. Our past few trips have been Poly and CR so POR was going to be our "cheap" trip but I just couldn't go through wit hit when I saw WL for only $100 more per night. We'll basically be using the room for sleep only so I'm not that concerned about lack of view with a SV room and the construction was not noticeable when we rode the boat over in December to see the tree, so it's all good.

 

[alhurricane]

that's a super price! I'm paying $302/night +tax for SV for March 11-15 with an AP discount. Moved over from a Royal Room at POR as the bus situation there was giving me hives. It's myself and my almost 19 yo daughter, it's her college spring break this time. Our past few trips have been Poly and CR so POR was going to be our "cheap" trip but I just couldn't go through wit hit when I saw WL for only $100 more per night. We'll basically be using the room for sleep only so I'm not that concerned about lack of view with a SV room and the construction was not noticeable when we rode the boat over in December to see the tree, so it's all good.

Well that price disappeared an hour and a half later, so now I am left disappointed as I was about to go for the plunge.

 

[shmom]

Well that price disappeared an hour and a half later, so now I am left disappointed as I was about to go for the plunge.

I rebooked on Orbitz a few days ago for $225/night for early April and then rebooked today for courtyard view for $270. I have been checking every day and it seems the lower rates are off and on every day. I would check back for sure. It does make me want to ignore construction for that good of a price!

 

[cb37015]

Hello! We are planning our family's 2nd visit to Disney in Nov/Dec 2016. Last time, we stayed at WL in a woods view, bunk bed room and had views of Magic Kingdom's fireworks! As of now, we have booked a bunk, courtyard room. Are there any of these room numbers I should specifically request?! Thank you!

 

[alhurricane]

I rebooked on Orbitz a few days ago for $225/night for early April and then rebooked today for courtyard view for $270. I have been checking every day and it seems the lower rates are off and on every day. I would check back for sure. It does make me want to ignore construction for that good of a price!

I am going to keep checking and have my fingers crossed. It seems crazy it would jump that much in price in such a short time. Not sure how that all works...

 

[WildMouser]

Thanks to everyone for the Club Level updates. I too agree that the combination of the CMs and views made Club Level a magical experience.

Is the move to the honeymoon suite temporary during construction? Hoping it is and after construction, the Club Level moves back to its original space.

 

[shmom]

I am going to keep checking and have my fingers crossed. It seems crazy it would jump that much in price in such a short time. Not sure how that all works...

And I did the book for 2 people then I called Orbitz and added my boys. Slight hassle but worth the price difference.

 

[OhAmbs]

As far as the construction goes, if you have a courtyard view room you won't even see it. We haven't done any exploring yet but from what I've seen, they have cleared out most of the trees between the north wing and the lake in the Otter Pond area. In fact, I think Otter Pond is gone. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow. They left a fringe of trees at the shoreline so it isn't a shocking sight, but the people who stay in the woods view rooms in the north wing will be front and center of the construction site once they start building the cabins. They are still clearing and prepping the land, though. There wasn't any construction work going on today.

Staying the last week of Feb in a courtyard view and this makes me breathe a sigh of relief. Excited to hear any updates you have throughout the week!

 

[pmaurer74]

I was at the wl cl for 4 days in december. During this time, i spoke with 1 of the cl cm about this ongoing renovation & they are NOT happy with it at all!

I will say that the rumor about dvc studios going into the cl, like the akl has, was told to me as being not true. The cm told me they did hear about that rumor & were told by their boss it was false, however, the cm said that rumor wasn't going away & the cm told me that if it turns out to be true, that all the wl club level workers were going to leave if that happened. They did NOT want dvc studios w/ club level access.

Anyway, from what I was told, info on this is not being told to the cl workers, that this mess is going to go well into 2017 and that my club level experience at the wl for our usual fall trip there would be greatly disappointing. I was told to wait until next year to come back. The 1 thing they are happy about is the new lounge replacing the old one. Apparently, the current one had many many issues with leaks and just things not working. While we were there, there were multiple walk throughs w/ construction workers. Looks like the WL is going to be a mess for a year or so. May be time to stay at some other places....

I hope it will be better by Dec. ... getting ready to may a ressie for next year!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Thanks for posting. (I was checking for your post today) Hope your trip ends up being wonderful, in spite of the CL disappointments.

Thank you.

Hoping you enjoy your Club experience and really hope the cobbler shows up

I am enjoying it so far.

That sounds nice, then the lounge should have a view of Wishes, right? Doesnt sound like they will have the lounge moved into the VP suite by the time we arrive... we are now under 2 weeks! You'd think the IPO would have known that when we emailed them? Having a 1/2 full resort does have some appeal, but I am still considering moving. It is our first CL stay too, though we have a week at the Poly booked CL at the end of the year. This was going to be my "sneak preview," of sorts.

Yes, the new lounge would have a view of Wishes, at least that is what my "source" said.

Does transportation seem effected at all by the construction? I mean: does less guests equal less buses or boats?

I'll know more as we travel to the other parks. So far we have only gone to MK via both bus and boat and they have had few passengers.

NO COBBLER??!! That's the OFC's signature dessert and a highlight of each evening. The cobbler sits atop a warmer which might be the issue now, but the other desserts, such as brownies and Magic Cookie Bars don't. Why in the world can't they at least serve those?

It isn't a problem of not having a warmer, since they had one out for the salmon chowder and another one out for this chicken rice dish for evening appetizers. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are very few CL guests. I'll let you know if it appears again. FWIW, I'm not a big fan of cobbler, although DH likes it.

I've never seen RF uncrowded, except at really off times of the day, so I suppose that's a welcome change. It sounds like you could have easily eaten there without any lines any time of the day, which makes CL even less useful. Of course, it is January, so maybe RF is pretty empty this time of year? But, with at least half the normal occupancy level, this has to be an unusually empty resort, even for January.

This is our third time staying at the WL this time of year and Roaring Forks is usually less crowded during those months than when we were here in Oct and Dec. But this time it is a lot less crowded. This morning at 8:45am, which is prime time for crowds, only half of the tables were occupied in Roaring Forks.

Thank you for confirming my suspicion that the two South Wing Honeymoon Suites would be replaced by the larger lounge. The view from those two rooms is not very good and those who knew about it would always request to be in the two North Wing suites instead. The South Wing suites overlook VWL and the roof with the bus stop and parking lot over to the right. The North Wing suites have a partial Wishes view and used to overlook woods, but will soon overlook the cabins and some trees and perhaps some of Bay Lake.

I walked down to the temporary lounge and ran into my "source of information" and they confirmed that the new Old Faithful lounge would be on the north side, above the restaurants, not the south side. It makes sense for the food delivery. And they also told me today that they were taking a room and switching it around so that there will be bathrooms near the new lounge.

Nicely said, @bluecastle . Sue offers an interesting perspective since she goes multiple times per year to WDW and has stayed at WL many times, but never CL till now. I almost feel like she's staying Club Level Lite (very lite). If I had to compare her stay now with my past stays, I'd be a lot less understanding. I really don't think this was handled well by management.

It feels like I am staying in a normal sixth floor room with a dormer balcony and getting free food instead of paying for it.

Hello! We are planning our family's 2nd visit to Disney in Nov/Dec 2016. Last time, we stayed at WL in a woods view, bunk bed room and had views of Magic Kingdom's fireworks! As of now, we have booked a bunk, courtyard room. Are there any of these room numbers I should specifically request?! Thank you!

They are planning to have all the remodeling finished in eleven months, so there is a chance you might get a "new" room. I think the 11 month estimate sounds very ambitious, but you never know.

Is the move to the honeymoon suite temporary during construction? Hoping it is and after construction, the Club Level moves back to its original space.

First the temporary location for the CL lounge will move to the vice presidential suite in about three weeks. Then they will start working on converting the honeymoon suites to the new CL lounge. Once the suites have been converted they will make the former honeymoon suites into the permanent Old Faithful Club lounge.

 

[cinderkelly]

@Wood Nymph thank you SO very much for taking the time to report things "live from the lodge"! I was really going back and forth about possibly switching my reservation for this coming June but I think we will stay put. We have a CYV room booked, so I think things will be fine. This will be our first WL stay and I wasn't sure I wanted our first experience there to be with all the construction going on, but with lower guest compacity and less crowds on transportation and at RF it might just be worth the trade off
Thanks again and hope your time there is magical!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I haven't seen where it's been shared exactly why all the South side rooms are closed down? Is it to do with the assumed change to DVC? But that's not the whole south wing is it?

 

[dansdad]

I haven't seen where it's been shared exactly why all the South side rooms are closed down? Is it to do with the assumed change to DVC?

Yes.

But that's not the whole south wing is it?

Rumor has it, yes.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yes.



Rumor has it, yes.

Ahhh-I hadn't heard that. So even courtyard view rooms in that wing?

 

[KristiK]

Yes.



Rumor has it, yes.

Wait, so half the hotel is rumored to be converting to DVC? I'm so confused. Lol.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Wait, so half the hotel is rumored to be converting to DVC? I'm so confused. Lol.

Yes. Because they want to sell the rooms, plus the new bungalows, as a new DVC property. And if they convert the rooms they can sell while the bungalows are under construction.

 

[Lsdolphin]

Welcome to the DIS and to the WL/VWL thread, @shmom

At some point, cabin construction will begin and if you're in the North Wing, you might end up with a cabin construction view, unless they take North Wing SV and WV rooms out of inventory. I would recommend a South Wing SV room or a CYV room, which as of now, would be in the North Wing since the South Wing is closed.



Nicely said, @bluecastle . Sue offers an interesting perspective since she goes multiple times per year to WDW and has stayed at WL many times, but never CL till now. I almost feel like she's staying Club Level Lite (very lite). If I had to compare her stay now with my past stays, I'd be a lot less understanding. I really don't think this was handled well by management.



Did you see my Poly SV photos here? I think you made the right choice.

Yes I really think we did make the right choice for this visit! We did a split stay in August with 4 nites at WL CL and then 2 nites Poly Villas. I really liked having everything in one bldg during our stay at WL in August with all the rain it was nice not to have to be running between buildings to get back and forth to our room! Requesting Samoa or Fiji for our Feb trip.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Yes, the new lounge would have a view of Wishes, at least that is what my "source" said.

It isn't a problem of not having a warmer, since they had one out for the salmon chowder and another one out for this chicken rice dish for evening appetizers. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are very few CL guests. I'll let you know if it appears again. FWIW, I'm not a big fan of cobbler, although DH likes it.

This is our third time staying at the WL this time of year and Roaring Forks is usually less crowded during those months than when we were here in Oct and Dec. But this time it is a lot less crowded. This morning at 8:45am, which is prime time for crowds, only half of the tables were occupied in Roaring Forks.

I walked down to the temporary lounge and ran into my "source of information" and they confirmed that the new Old Faithful lounge would be on the north side, above the restaurants, not the south side. It makes sense for the food delivery. And they also told me today that they were taking a room and switching it around so that there will be bathrooms near the new lounge.

They are planning to have all the remodeling finished in eleven months, so there is a chance you might get a "new" room. I think the 11 month estimate sounds very ambitious, but you never know.

First the temporary location for the CL lounge will move to the vice presidential suite in about three weeks. Then they will start working on converting the honeymoon suites to the new CL lounge. Once the suites have been converted they will make the former honeymoon suites into the permanent Old Faithful Club lounge.

Thank you for your thoughtful responses, Sue. I have so many questions...

If the lounge is being relocated to the North Wing, this makes it seem much more likely that the entire South Wing is being converted to DVC or floors 1-6 and the 7th floor's North Wing "re-purposed?" If so, I wonder what will happen to the Pres. Suite and it looks like the 4 Honeymoon Suites are no more? This would also remove about 12 Deluxe rooms from inventory.

The current OFC kitchen is in the South Wing, across from the lounge (which is closed off now to the public). It sounds like they'll be moving the kitchen, the lounge and check-in over to the North Wing?

The manager's office is right next to where they're currently serving the food, this was rumored to someday be converted to a public restroom since there isn't one on the 7th floor. If that ends up the restroom, then would one suite become the lounge and one suite would be the kitchen? Not sure where the kitchen would be since there's a set of stairs up to the rooftop next to the Honeymoon Suites and across from the manager's office. This configuration would make for a pretty small lounge so I must have this all wrong.

Will the seating area still be where it is now in the North Wing? Is the 11 month completion estimate (Dec. 2016) just for the 7th floor? Do they know yet where the new check-in will be located?

Sorry you're waking up to so many questions this morning, Sue, but we all appreciate your insights.