Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[dansdad]

Thanks! I did take a look at the thread, but I'll be sure to revisit it. We have 3 DDs (21 yo twins & 14 yo).So the 2nd bathroom is big for us. Poor DH has been outnumbered for a long time. Lol!

If you decide to go with 2 rooms and if you would like the rooms to be right next to each other with an interior door connecting them, you will want to request "connecting". Adjoining rooms in Disneyspeak means near each other, across the hall, a couple doors down, etc.

And as @Wood Nymph stated connecting rooms are not guaranteed, only a request.

 

[duck_adoo]

Thank you!

 

[Tearbear]

Excited to be staying at WL for 19 days, Sept 8 to Sept 26. Last Disney stay was four years ago.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Free Dining may now be booked:

Disney World Free Dining 2016 Travel Dates
Free Dining is being offered to guests ARRIVING during the dates listed below. A minimum stay of 3 nights is required and your package may not be booked for longer than 14 nights.

August 23 – October 1, 2016
November 15 – November 21, 2016
November 26 – November 28, 2016
December 10 – December 21, 2016

You must book by July 8th to get the offer.

(Please note that the offer excludes: Campsites, Bungalows at Polynesian Village, Grand Floridian Villas, Bay Lake Tower, 3-bedroom Villas, Port Orleans French Quarter, and Little Mermaid rooms at Art of Animation. Port Orleans Riverside is only available through October 1st. )

Disney Resorts
If you stay at a Value Resort, you’ll receive the Quick Service Dining plan for FREE. (Note that you can upgrade to the standard or deluxe dining plans by paying the difference in cost per night.)

If you reserve a Moderate, Deluxe, or Deluxe Villa Resort, you will receive the standard Dining plan for FREE. (You can upgrade to the deluxe dining plan by paying the difference in cost per night).

Minimum/Maximum Days
You must book a minimum stay of 3 nights/ maximum stay of 14 nights at a Disney-owned resort. You may also need to purchase AT LEAST a 2-day Magic Your Way Disney World ticket with a Park Hopper AND/OR the Water Park Fun & More Option.

Note — while Disney often uses the rhetoric “5-night, 6-day” in its promotional materials, that’s only sales language. You do NOT have to book 5 nights to have access to free dining!

~ Disney Food Blog​

 

[hmm]

It's our last full day here and we don't want to leave. Here's a view from our room (3025) of the rooms in the South wing before sunrise.

 

[tuckerkeys]

just booked aug 27-sept 3 using the room only discount as free dining doesn't appeal to us for the WL

Was able to get standard WL for $202 per night, which i think is a pretty good deal!

We usually stay club level during this time, however, with all the changes going on I do not think it is worth the extra money.

Sept 3-6 we're moving over to the yacht club, as standard room category wasn't available and the rates jumped up, so staying at the yacht club is actually cheaper than the lodge for those dates.... ( 247 for the YC, 268 for the WL )

So happy the lodge was available as this is our favorite place for the end of the summer!!

 

[dalmatian7]

It's our last full day here and we don't want to leave. Here's a view from our room (3025) of the rooms in the South wing before sunrise.

View attachment 164472

Wow are they working all night on it or do they just have every light on all the time?

 

[bjscheel]

I see pretty often that people request a room near an elevator. Trying to decide whether I should make this request as well. Seems like it would be nice not to have to walk far to our room, but isn't it noisy near an elevator?

We had a room next to the service elevator and I could hear the noise from it all night long. It was very annoying and I will make sure it never happens again.

I have requested near elevator for June...we booked standard view and it looked like from the map on page 1 that no standard view (or woods view if they are counting those as standard at the moment) rooms are immediately next to the elevator. So hopefully we'll be alright with a little bit of buffer between us and the elevator. I don't know where the service elevators would be though. I just thought it looked like near elevator would get us pretty centrally located.

 

[WDWKOOK]

So excited to be going back to WL this fall! Would you please add our dates 10/04-10/11?

Of course and

Excited to be staying at WL for 19 days, Sept 8 to Sept 26. Last Disney stay was four years ago.

What a nice, looooong stay. I think you're making up for lost time

It's our last full day here and we don't want to leave. Here's a view from our room (3025) of the rooms in the South wing before sunrise.

I hate last days - sorry. Do you have another trip in the works? Thanks for posting your early AM photo. It's the best time of the day - so quiet and peaceful.

just booked aug 27-sept 3 using the room only discount as free dining doesn't appeal to us for the WL

Was able to get standard WL for $202 per night, which i think is a pretty good deal!

We usually stay club level during this time, however, with all the changes going on I do not think it is worth the extra money.

Sept 3-6 we're moving over to the yacht club, as standard room category wasn't available and the rates jumped up, so staying at the yacht club is actually cheaper than the lodge for those dates.... ( 247 for the YC, 268 for the WL )

So happy the lodge was available as this is our favorite place for the end of the summer!!

Congratulations on booking your split stay! I'll add your dates to the Lodgers' Log.

Wow are they working all night on it or do they just have every light on all the time?

I was wondering the same thing and wishing we could see more closely into all those rooms. We don't have any photos yet of the interior and I'd love to see what's going on with the room conversion.

 

[disneylovinfamilyof6]

We checked in earlier today and have a perfect view of the castle...granted there is construction below. The lodge is definitely less crowded which is a nice perk!

What was your room number?

 

[Gillybean08]

Just booked our first Disney holiday for 31st Oct 2017 for 14 nights for our family of four with two children 14 and 5. I have found this thread a wealth of info thank you! We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge, I was a bit apprehensive with the work going on but hopefully they will be nearly finished by then! Very excited, we picked WL because of the great reviews and it looks family friendly. My youngest is animal crazy so hoping to see some wildlife around the lodge

 

[Emme]

I really need some advice...please! We are currently booked with the free dining at Coronado business level for Sep. 6-13. I just checked and we can get the WL standard view free dining for literally $100 more. It is just hubby and I. We have never stayed at the Lodge but love the proximity to the MK (our fave). We stayed at the Poly last year with construction and it was fine BUT we had a garden view and heard/saw nothing.

If we switch resorts what would I request to have a somewhat decent view without construction? Also, what are the odds of a king bed with standard view? We really don't want 2 queens for just the two of us. Sorry for so many questions but I am totally lost...thanks so much!!!!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I really need some advice...please! We are currently booked with the free dining at Coronado business level for Sep. 6-13. I just checked and we can get the WL standard view free dining for literally $100 more. It is just hubby and I. We have never stayed at the Lodge but love the proximity to the MK (our fave). We stayed at the Poly last year with construction and it was fine BUT we had a garden view and heard/saw nothing.

If we switch resorts what would I request to have a somewhat decent view without construction? Also, what are the odds of a king bed with standard view? We really don't want 2 queens for just the two of us. Sorry for so many questions but I am totally lost...thanks so much!!!!

Hello, and congratulations on having the chance for free dining at WL. I must admit I am jealous as we couldn't get it for our dates. My opinion is that I would definitely make the switch, but I am not bothered by the construction. The amenities that you won't have are the boat rentals, beach, workout room, spa, kids club, the lobby set of elevators, and villas pool, so if any of those are super important to you you might not want to make the switch. You will still have the great main pool, splash area (which probably won't mean much to the two of you), and the boat transportation, which is one of our favorite things about WL. As far as construction views go with a standard room you will likely have construction in the area below your room, but it will likely face the MK with a decent view of fireworks above the construction so with a high floor the view could be quite nice. If it were me I would just focus more on your king bed request. If you did courtyard view you would see less construction but wouldn't have a balcony facing MK, since the South Wing is currently not in use. We did get a king bed after booking standard view for our honeymoon, but it wound up being a handicapped accessible courtyard view room. There are king standard view rooms, but like it does limit the selection somewhat. Either way, happy planning!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Just booked our first Disney holiday for 31st Oct 2017 for 14 nights for our family of four with two children 14 and 5. I have found this thread a wealth of info thank you! We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge, I was a bit apprehensive with the work going on but hopefully they will be nearly finished by then! Very excited, we picked WL because of the great reviews and it looks family friendly. My youngest is animal crazy so hoping to see some wildlife around the lodge

We've seen deer along the path to FW. If you walk that path it will come out right next to the pony corral. The ponies are cute. There is a horse barn next to that and you can visit the horses.

I really need some advice...please! We are currently booked with the free dining at Coronado business level for Sep. 6-13. I just checked and we can get the WL standard view free dining for literally $100 more. It is just hubby and I. We have never stayed at the Lodge but love the proximity to the MK (our fave). We stayed at the Poly last year with construction and it was fine BUT we had a garden view and heard/saw nothing.

If we switch resorts what would I request to have a somewhat decent view without construction? Also, what are the odds of a king bed with standard view? We really don't want 2 queens for just the two of us. Sorry for so many questions but I am totally lost...thanks so much!!!!

The standard view rooms are located above the loading dock area of the resort. You would have a view of the construction, too. You might see the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom, though. If you are going to be out of your rooms between 9 am and 5pm, the construction shouldn't bother you. But there can be some truck noise from the loading dock area very early in the morning. King beds are by request only and I don't think anyone knows exactly how many and where they are.

But the lodge is beautiful and the boat to MK is great.

 

[alhurricane]

I meant to share these earlier, but these were pictures taken from our balcony on April 16th. It is from room 4034.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Just booked our first Disney holiday for 31st Oct 2017 for 14 nights for our family of four with two children 14 and 5. I have found this thread a wealth of info thank you! We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge, I was a bit apprehensive with the work going on but hopefully they will be nearly finished by then! Very excited, we picked WL because of the great reviews and it looks family friendly. My youngest is animal crazy so hoping to see some wildlife around the lodge

Welcome! I'm so glad you've found this thread helpful. Like Wood Nymph mentioned, WL and FW are teeming with wildlife. However, I'm not sure how much the construction and staging has "relocated" some of the wildlife, such as the armadillos. Make sure you take the kids for a walk or bike ride along the concrete path to FW. Your 5-year-old can ride the ponies and there's also horseback riding and fishing.

Hello, and congratulations on having the chance for free dining at WL. I must admit I am jealous as we couldn't get it for our dates.

Oh, no! I know you were eagerly anticipating being able to add FD - so sorry. I'd keep trying though or maybe just a day earlier or later at either end might make a difference? Can you use a room-only discount or have those not be released yet for your dates?

I meant to share these earlier, but these were pictures taken from our balcony on April 16th. It is from room 4034.

Thank you for posting, @alhurricane. Great view now since all the heavy equipment hasn't started up yet. It'll be interesting to see which rooms get "newly re-imagined" booking categories.

 

[Mermaid02]

Got back just over a week ago... we were upgraded from a studio to a 1 bedroom suite! I have to tell you- coming home with all CLEAN laundry was amazing and it also ruined me for a "regular" room FOREVER! We ate some meals in the room- did our laundry- soaked our sore muscles in the jacuzzi tub at night... it was heavenly! Unfortunately I was ill the last 2 days of our trip, but up until then it was an amazing time!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Oh, no! I know you were eagerly anticipating being able to add FD - so sorry. I'd keep trying though or maybe just a day earlier or later at either end might make a difference? Can you use a room-only discount or have those not be released yet for your dates?

Yeah, we hoped for free dining since last September, but there just wasn't anything besides CL at WL during our dates. The room only discount is available at some resorts, but the best we can do for that is a VWL studio villa for about the same cost as our standard view room. We are optimistic that we'll get something though, as we could currently get it if we arrived a day later, but we would have one less day of dining to enjoy. It will work out, and despite seeing some great offers to move resorts we are all looking forward to WL.

 

[duck_adoo]

Got back just over a week ago... we were upgraded from a studio to a 1 bedroom suite! I have to tell you- coming home with all CLEAN laundry was amazing and it also ruined me for a "regular" room FOREVER! We ate some meals in the room- did our laundry- soaked our sore muscles in the jacuzzi tub at night... it was heavenly! Unfortunately I was ill the last 2 days of our trip, but up until then it was an amazing time!

Did you stay at the villas or in the lodge?

 

[WDWKOOK]

Got back just over a week ago... we were upgraded from a studio to a 1 bedroom suite! I have to tell you- coming home with all CLEAN laundry was amazing and it also ruined me for a "regular" room FOREVER! We ate some meals in the room- did our laundry- soaked our sore muscles in the jacuzzi tub at night... it was heavenly! Unfortunately I was ill the last 2 days of our trip, but up until then it was an amazing time!

Sorry you were sick. That is no fun, especially on vacation. Looks like your next visit will be in a one-bedroom for sure

Yeah, we hoped for free dining since last September, but there just wasn't anything besides CL at WL during our dates. The room only discount is available at some resorts, but the best we can do for that is a VWL studio villa for about the same cost as our standard view room. We are optimistic that we'll get something though, as we could currently get it if we arrived a day later, but we would have one less day of dining to enjoy. It will work out, and despite seeing some great offers to move resorts we are all looking forward to WL.

We always appreciate your optimistic attitude. Keep us posted on what you decide to do

Did you stay at the villas or in the lodge?

The Studios and One-Bedroom villas are at the villas/VWL.