Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[caroline52]

Hi all! I have been a lurker on this thread since we decided to book at Wilderness Lodge a few months ago! It's been almost 20 years since I have stayed here (and I was a kid then!) so we are pretty much "first timers" in my mind.

My husband and I are midway into our stay at Wilderness Lodge now and love it!

We are in a courtyard view room and have barely noticed any construction. From our balcony we can see the main pool, the geyser and Bay Lake. Way far off to the right we can see a bit of the beach that has been cleared.

Construction noise hasn't been a problem at all, and we have been in the room well past their start time of 9am. In fact, the loudest noises we have heard were from the water parade, which we had an awesome view of from our room!

The elevators by Roaring Fork haven't been an issue at all for us, but I can see where a family that has a stroller etc could be frustrated that those are the only elevators open because they do seem a bit small to me. However we haven't had a problem having to wait a long time for an elevator to come or anything like that.

The resort is definitely less busy than I imagine it would be if all of the rooms were open, but that has made for shorter lines at Roaring Fork and the bus stops, so it hasn't bothered us.

All in all, we are having a great stay at the Lodge, and I wouldn't hesitate to book again even with construction!

 

[wed100105]

We're headed to VWL this June. If I read correctly, a lot of the resort rooms will still be unoccupied at that time. It may be that construction is a great trade-off for less people at the resort and in the pool.

 

[lovingeire]

DH has proposed switching WL from CR. He's worried about his final military paycheck being held and our middle son keeps begging to stay here again. I haven't pulled the plug on CR yet, but DH is pushing for it. We love WL so we'd be happy to stay there again, but I was really looking forward to the CR for the first time!

 

[rcraw45425]

DH has proposed switching WL from CR. He's worried about his final military paycheck being held and our middle son keeps begging to stay here again. I haven't pulled the plug on CR yet, but DH is pushing for it. We love WL so we'd be happy to stay there again, but I was really looking forward to the CR for the first time!

Love the CR but understand about the financial constraints. Room prices just keep going up. WL is like the 3rd or 4th time I've changed this upcoming college spring break trip for my youngest daughter and I. I stated at thePolynesian again but the price was making me choke so I dropped down to a royal room at POR. Then I began worrying about bus situations during this busy time so I changed to WL. Just remember if yo ud book WL that the rooms are noticeably smaller than the CR ones.

 

[Poola]

We are in a courtyard view room and have barely noticed any construction. From our balcony we can see the main pool, the geyser and Bay Lake. Way far off to the right we can see a bit of the beach that has been cleared.

Sounds like you have the perfect room for our May trip. Can you post your room number when you get home? It may help me decide what options to request when I do online check-in.

 

[rcraw45425]

Hi all! I have been a lurker on this thread since we decided to book at Wilderness Lodge a few months ago! It's been almost 20 years since I have stayed here (and I was a kid then!) so we are pretty much "first timers" in my mind.

My husband and I are midway into our stay at Wilderness Lodge now and love it!

We are in a courtyard view room and have barely noticed any construction. From our balcony we can see the main pool, the geyser and Bay Lake. Way far off to the right we can see a bit of the beach that has been cleared.

Construction noise hasn't been a problem at all, and we have been in the room well past their start time of 9am. In fact, the loudest noises we have heard were from the water parade, which we had an awesome view of from our room!

The elevators by Roaring Fork haven't been an issue at all for us, but I can see where a family that has a stroller etc could be frustrated that those are the only elevators open because they do seem a bit small to me. However we haven't had a problem having to wait a long time for an elevator to come or anything like that.

The resort is definitely less busy than I imagine it would be if all of the rooms were open, but that has made for shorter lines at Roaring Fork and the bus stops, so it hasn't bothered us.

All in all, we are having a great stay at the Lodge, and I wouldn't hesitate to book again even with construction!

Based on your comments I changed my standard view reservation for March to a courtyard view room. We've only stayed CYV in the past, both regular room and CL.

 

[lovingeire]

Love the CR but understand about the financial constraints. Room prices just keep going up. WL is like the 3rd or 4th time I've changed this upcoming college spring break trip for my youngest daughter and I. I stated at thePolynesian again but the price was making me choke so I dropped down to a royal room at POR. Then I began worrying about bus situations during this busy time so I changed to WL. Just remember if yo ud book WL that the rooms are noticeably smaller than the CR ones.

Thank you! We have stayed at WL before and love it. We will have to put he two year old in a pack n play, but it will also probably be our last opportunity to stay there before were constrained to resorts for families of 5. It's hard to make the change because we have the money out aside and it's supposed to be this all out celebration of my husbands military retirement, but with that retirement comes some financial uncertainty so I think we are both feeling the need to err on the side of caution. And it's not like we'll be slumming it at WL! Lol! And my 5 year old just wants to sleep in the top bunk...life goals! It will be magical no matter where we stay. And maybe we'll be able to do flag family finally!

 

[caroline52]

Sounds like you have the perfect room for our May trip. Can you post your room number when you get home? It may help me decide what options to request when I do online check-in.

Based on your comments I changed my standard view reservation for March to a courtyard view room. We've only stayed CYV in the past, both regular room and CL.

Yes I think courtyard view is the best way to go. We were in room 6037. It was a king bed but I'm sure they have similar placed rooms that have other sleeping arrangements. I have a picture from our balcony, I just have to figure out how to post it!

 

[rcraw45425]

Thank you! We have stayed at WL before and love it. We will have to put he two year old in a pack n play, but it will also probably be our last opportunity to stay there before were constrained to resorts for families of 5. It's hard to make the change because we have the money out aside and it's supposed to be this all out celebration of my husbands military retirement, but with that retirement comes some financial uncertainty so I think we are both feeling the need to err on the side of caution. And it's not like we'll be slumming it at WL! Lol! And my 5 year old just wants to sleep in the top bunk...life goals! It will be magical no matter where we stay. And maybe we'll be able to do flag family finally!

Completely understand. My husband just changed jobs after 15 years, from Emergency Medicine to Acute Care, so while we have better benefits we have less money coming in each month. Trying to be more frugal while feeding my and my daughter's Disney obsession

 

[Mamo]

Hello from WL CL. Wanted to let you know that we arrived yesterday and I am very pleased. Many thanks to wood nymph for preparing us about the the lounge. It remains along the hallway and is cramped but the cast members are going well out of their way to make us comfortable.
Knowing before hand made all the difference. Thank you all for sharing your experience.
I have only two things to add that that haven't already been posted.
We received a call the night before we arrived from Doug. Welcoming us and wishing us safe travel.
We also got a gorgeous castle view. It is truly magical. I had never cared about views in the past. So this has blown me away.

 

[lovingeire]

Completely understand. My husband just changed jobs after 15 years, from Emergency Medicine to Acute Care, so while we have better benefits we have less money coming in each month. Trying to be more frugal while feeding my and my daughter's Disney obsession

We haven't mentioned the trip to our kids yet so we finally got a minute without little ears to go over numbers & hubby says he thinks WL is doable. (Ar first he was like we'll just stay at an All Star...which is funny since he was not a fan the one time we stayed.) but I gave him moderate pricing as well & he decided on WL. So tomorrow I'll have to make a call & get it sorted.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hello from WL CL. Wanted to let you know that we arrived yesterday and I am very pleased. Many thanks to wood nymph for preparing us about the the lounge. It remains along the hallway and is cramped but the cast members are going well out of their way to make us comfortable.
Knowing before hand made all the difference. Thank you all for sharing your experience.
I have only two things to add that that haven't already been posted.
We received a call the night before we arrived from Doug. Welcoming us and wishing us safe travel.
We also got a gorgeous castle view. It is truly magical. I had never cared about views in the past. So this has blown me away.

I'm glad to hear that you got a castle view. With all the trees cut down now the view must be pretty good.

Doug called us the night before, too. We got to spend a lot of time talking to him while we were there and he knew a lot about the remodeling of the lounge and south wing. All of the CL staff were wonderful. They bought us cobblers from Artist Point when I told them that I was disappointed that they weren't serving cobbler in the lounge.

I'm glad that you are enjoying your stay. We enjoyed our stay, too. The CM's made all the difference.

 

[ElenaJane]

Hello from WL CL. Wanted to let you know that we arrived yesterday and I am very pleased. Many thanks to wood nymph for preparing us about the the lounge. It remains along the hallway and is cramped but the cast members are going well out of their way to make us comfortable.
Knowing before hand made all the difference. Thank you all for sharing your experience.
I have only two things to add that that haven't already been posted.
We received a call the night before we arrived from Doug. Welcoming us and wishing us safe travel.
We also got a gorgeous castle view. It is truly magical. I had never cared about views in the past. So this has blown me away.

Thanks for the update! We are checking in to WL CL 2/3. I am kind of hoping the lounge will be moved by then to the Vice Presidential Suite!

 

[rcraw45425]

We haven't mentioned the trip to our kids yet so we finally got a minute without little ears to go over numbers & hubby says he thinks WL is doable. (Ar first he was like we'll just stay at an All Star...which is funny since he was not a fan the one time we stayed.) but I gave him moderate pricing as well & he decided on WL. So tomorrow I'll have to make a call & get it sorted.

Yay! Glad that you were able to keep your dream! In spite of the disruption from construction I'm looking forward to having a half full resort during Spring Break! Heck, I've stayed at the Polynesian twice with that construction going on (and our CL room had a view of the mud hole that's going to be the villas pool!). We're pretty resilient and actually rode over to WL in December so we're going in with our eyes open

 

[wed100105]

I made Artist's Point's berry cobbler last night as a treat while we looked over all the videos and tips for staying at VWL.

I have a couple of questions and would really appreciate your help.
Is the only place to refill your DDP mug at Roaring Forks?
Should I make any room requests for location/views? We are staying in a one bedroom June 18-25.
To get to the boat dock, do we need to walk through the villas and then the lobby and out past the pool? I couldn't tell from the construction maps.
Will the villas be fully open during that time or are some of them closed as well? I think I understood that the south wing lodge rooms will still be closed.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Should I make any room requests for location/views? We are staying in a one bedroom June 18-25.

To get to the boat dock, do we need to walk through the villas and then the lobby and out past the pool? I couldn't tell from the construction maps.

1. The villas that face the lake will have a construction view. The villas that face the bus stop and parking lot side of the resort would be quieter.

2. You will need to walk through the lobby to get to the boat dock since the whole area between the south wing and the villas is completely fenced off now.

 

[wed100105]

1. The villas that face the lake will have a construction view. The villas that face the bus stop and parking lot side of the resort would be quieter.

2. You will need to walk through the lobby to get to the boat dock since the whole area between the south wing and the villas is completely fenced off now.

Thanks, Sue. Should I request near transportation then in hopes to be closer to the lobby?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Thanks, Sue. Should I request near transportation then in hopes to be closer to the lobby?

I would request near transportation. I think that would be a good place to be. We had a room in the south wing, facing the villas, right near the bus stop and it was very convenient.

 

[OhAmbs]

Hi again! Ended up going with the Courtyard view for our stay few 23-28. Any good location requests? This is our first deluxe stay so I have no idea what I'm doing

 

[Wood Nymph]

Hi again! Ended up going with the Courtyard view for our stay few 23-28. Any good location requests? This is our first deluxe stay so I have no idea what I'm doing

I don't like the 6th floor rooms that have the dormer balconies. The fourth and fifth floors have nice views. I'm not a fan of ground floor rooms. But with a courtyard view room then any room should be fine. It is a small resort.