Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[texasgingerbread]

Hello, We were at Geyser Point last Saturday for drinks and appetizers (which were excellent). WL now pipes in the music for the fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom there. They have a nice place to watch the fireworks down by the water. There were some chairs and people moved them to watch. It was funny, looked like movie theater seating. People had their strollers all lined up behind us. As you cannot see the castle, I was impressed as how much of the fireworks you can see. Much more than in the past. Higher and lowers ones.

Also, the Water Parade comes in at 9:35pm. From the same point, you can see it PERFECTLY!!!

Hope you enjoy.

Great info, thank you.

 

[AngiTN]

Hello, We were at Geyser Point last Saturday for drinks and appetizers (which were excellent). WL now pipes in the music for the fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom there. They have a nice place to watch the fireworks down by the water. There were some chairs and people moved them to watch. It was funny, looked like movie theater seating. People had their strollers all lined up behind us. As you cannot see the castle, I was impressed as how much of the fireworks you can see. Much more than in the past. Higher and lowers ones.

Also, the Water Parade comes in at 9:35pm. From the same point, you can see it PERFECTLY!!!

Hope you enjoy.

Wonder how that will work with the new show? Should be interesting to see what the differences end up being

 

[TheLodgeLady]

Wonder how that will work with the new show? Should be interesting to see what the differences end up being

Me too.

We won't be back for a little while so would love to hear everyone's experiences.

 

[FoxC63]

Questions:

Fort Wilderness is hosting a movie & M&G during the fall and this site mentions “Tri Circle D Ranch” I am completely clueless about Fort Wilderness, transportation and dining options.

What is the best way to get there from BRV and how long does it take to get there?

What restaurants will be closest to this event and how do I get to the event after we eat?

Event Link:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...orseman-meet-and-greet-coming-this-halloween/

Thank you!

 

[AngiTN]

Questions:

Fort Wilderness is hosting a movie & M&G during the fall and this site mentions “Tri Circle D Ranch” I am completely clueless about Fort Wilderness, transportation and dining options.

What is the best way to get there from BRV and how long does it take to get there?

What restaurants will be closest to this event and how do I get to the event after we eat?

Event Link:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...orseman-meet-and-greet-coming-this-halloween/

Thank you!

You would walk or take the boat
There are both QS and TS at FW. Trail's End. There's a restaurant and a take out window. Very good by the way
Doesn't say where it is held. Could be near where HDDR/Trail's End is, where the stables are.
The other option is over at The Meadow area where they have the camp fire and movies now. That will take an internal bus ride once you get there.

 

[FoxC63]

You would walk or take the boat
There are both QS and TS at FW. Trail's End. There's a restaurant and a take out window. Very good by the way
Doesn't say where it is held. Could be near where HDDR/Trail's End is, where the stables are.
The other option is over at The Meadow area where they have the camp fire and movies now. That will take an internal bus ride once you get there.

Thank you for the info. Wish there was more of it in the link as I would like to make ADR's But your info will help me plan.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are here at the lodge and it feels like our lucky day. Our flight took off exactly at 6 am, Central time,on time. We landed early, walked right onto the Magical Express, and got to the WL at 10:30am. While we were on the ME I received an email invitation for a passholder preview for Pandora during our May trip. I quickly responded and now we have confirmed reservations for the passholder preview of Pandora on May 20th.

We also got rooms exactly where we wanted them and my sister's room is right next door. I haven't had much time to check things out yet, but we'll get to that soon. I did find out that they won't be making any of the DVC units into club level rooms, but I think that may be old news.

We can see the construction of some cabins from our room and they are working hard. The cabins are painted different colors and the construction area is all sand right now. It will be interesting to see what kind of landscaping they end up doing here.

We are now headed to check out Geyser Point.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Geyser Point information
The food that you order at the counter service window is eligible for the annual pass discount. The food and drinks ordered under the roof, which includes the appetizers does not get a discount.

The campfire is located close to Geyser Point on the Lodge side. And the Movies on the beach are held on the grassy area between Geyser Point and the boat dock. The marina isn't open yet

 

[oceanmarina]

We are here at the lodge and it feels like our lucky day. Our flight took off exactly at 6 am, Central time,on time. We landed early, walked right onto the Magical Express, and got to the WL at 10:30am. While we were on the ME I received an email invitation for a passholder preview for Pandora during our May trip. I quickly responded and now we have confirmed reservations for the passholder preview of Pandora on May 20th.

We also got rooms exactly where we wanted them and my sister's room is right next door. I haven't had much time to check things out yet, but we'll get to that soon. I did find out that they won't be making any of the DVC units into club level rooms, but I think that may be old news.

We can see the construction of some cabins from our room and they are working hard. The cabins are painted different colors and the construction area is all sand right now. It will be interesting to see what kind of landscaping they end of doing here.

We are now headed to check out Geyser Point.

Sounds like a great start to the trip, it's always nice to get there early to start your trip! Thanks for the updates, can't wait to hear about how the pool is going, from what I've hears it's going to be really nice and bigger than hidden springs.

 

[AngiTN]

Geyser Point information
The food that you order at the counter service window is eligible for the annual pass discount. The food and drinks ordered under the roof, which includes the appetizers does not get a discount.

The campfire is located close to Geyser Point on the Lodge side. And the Movies on the beach are held on the grassy area between Geyser Point and the boat dock. The marina isn't open yet

I guess I could hunt down the menu but is it the same menu in both QS and the under the roof areas or is it varied?
Also, did I read that once Roaring Forks reopens they'll eliminate the counter service area at Geyser Point?

 

[oceanmarina]

Adding our stay dates - August 23~28, very excited to be heading back to our favorite resort!

I used my American Airlines miles for the entire 5 day stay (we are getting a 1 bedroom villa). A few firsts for us here, this will be our first trip not on the dining plan, so it will be interesting to see which way is more expensive for us. Also, this is my first time not booking with Disney directly. The room would have cost about 3500. (non discounted as the Disney summer deal is not out yet)so all I have to budget for is meals & tickets. The airfare was more expensive than I usually get it for, $1343 for the 4 of us, but summer airfare has nowhere to go but up at this point, you know? Really excited to have a ticker counting down to Disney!

 

[Wood Nymph]

We decided to hang around the lodge tonight instead of going to a park. Geyser Point is a beautiful spot to sit and relax with food and drinks. The one thing I missed the most when we were here last January was that we didn't have access to Bay Lake via the beach. The new restaurant takes advantage of the lake views. We really enjoyed spending some time at the bar. The wind off the lake was a little chilly and they provide blankets at the bar. I had a nice, warm blanket while having a drink.

We came roasted marshmallows at the campfire. They sell the s'mores kits for $9.95, but the marshmallows are free. It is nice to have the campfire back again. The sandy beach is gone, though.

I took some pictures of the villa pool construction.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I guess I could hunt down the menu but is it the same menu in both QS and the under the roof areas or is it varied?
Also, did I read that once Roaring Forks reopens they'll eliminate the counter service area at Geyser Point?

The menu at the QS is different than the bar menu. It would be similar to the difference between the Territory Lounge bar menu and Roaring Forks. But you can order food from the QS and have it delivered to your table in the bar area.

 

[oceanmarina]

We decided to hang around the lodge tonight instead of going to a park. Geyser Point is a beautiful spot to sit and relax with food and drinks. The one thing I missed the most when we were here last January was that we didn't have access to Bay Lake via the beach. The new restaurant takes advantage of the lake views. We really enjoyed spending some time at the bar. The wind off the lake was a little chilly and they provide blankets at the bar. I had a nice, warm blanket while having a drink.

We came roasted marshmallows at the campfire. They sell the s'mores kits for $9.95, but the marshmallows are free. It is nice to have the campfire back again. The sandy beach is gone, though.

I took some pictures of the villa pool construction.

Thanks so much for posting, the new pool looks like it will be amazing!

 

[Wood Nymph]

This is the campfire area. It is located as you walk toward Geyser Point from the main pool area.






This is the grassy area where they show the movie on the beach. That is the boat dock to the right.



The marina building looks the same. It is just on the other side of Geyser Point.



This is the back side of Geyser Point. The area to the right looks like a place they could hold an event or party.



Grassy area for movies, boat dock, and more cabins in the back.




Trout Pass bar is all closed off, but the restrooms are still open.


The new covered patio outside of Roaring Forks is still under construction.


This scaffolding on the south wing looks like it was put up so that workmen could access the top floor dormer balcony.



There was more scaffolding in the upper creek area of the south wing. They are painting the south wing.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Thanks so much for posting, the new pool looks like it will be amazing!

It looked like the pool itself was done, or close to done. There were light fixtures in the bottom of the pool. It looks as if they are getting ready to lay down the pool deck. The quarry rocks are interesting. I peeked through the fence closest to the marina and all I saw was a huge wall of rocks. I'll see if I can get a picture through the fence when no one is looking. But the rock wall would mean that you couldn't see Bay Lake when you were in the pool.

But there is still a lot of work to do before they finish the pool.

 

[AngiTN]

Great pictures. I can't imagine a movie there right next to the boat docks. Did you happen to go buy during a movie? Think the boat comings and goings will interrupt it?

Never mind, I just looked again. That's not the MK boat dock. Sorry for the confusion

 

[Wood Nymph]

There are five tables set up by the edge of the lake next to Geyser Point. The bar staff won't wait on you if you are at these tables, since they are not "under the roof". (I think that is their code for the bar itself). But the counter service staff will deliver counter service food food to you at those tables. I think the whole bar food versus counter service food and who waits on who and which one gets a discount is a little confusing.


There were a lot of CM's waiting to explain how it all worked.






The counter service is straight ahead and the bar is to the left. The counter service is open until midnight. The drink station had a lot of choices, including Sprite Zero. I'll try and get a picture later.

 

[AngiTN]

There are five tables set up by the edge of the lake next to Geyser Point. The bar staff won't wait on you if you are at these tables, since they are not "under the roof". (I think that is their code for the bar itself). But the counter service staff will deliver counter service food food to you at those tables. I think the whole bar food versus counter service food and who waits on who and which one gets a discount is a little confusing.

There were a lot of CM's waiting to explain how it all worked.

Yes! It is going to be very confusing. Seems like a very silly way to do it, unless they plan to discontinue the counter service feature and make it all "bar" later, like say Trader Sam's bar

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

There are five tables set up by the edge of the lake next to Geyser Point. The bar staff won't wait on you if you are at these tables, since they are not "under the roof". (I think that is their code for the bar itself). But the counter service staff will deliver counter service food food to you at those tables. I think the whole bar food versus counter service food and who waits on who and which one gets a discount is a little confusing.

.

I agree that sounds too confusing to have services in such close proximity to each other. I imagine they'll get tired of trying to explain and change that. Really kind of sounds like they hadn't consider it all and are making it up as they go.