Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[Sue M]

How often does the boat (realistically) come for pick to go over to MK? and same question for the boat to the Contemporary?

I've just recently read a few posts about how awful the transportation is at WL which has me panicking. We have a car for all other parks but I was definitely depending on using the boat to get to MK after a dinner for the HEA dessert party and to get to California Grill.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

You may get better answers from people that have stayed mor recent, but I experienced good boat transportation with the boats. There are 2 going to MK, and while one is leaving WL for MK, the other is leaving MK heading to WL.
Then there’s the resort boat that loops around WL, CR & FW. I never experienced a long wait with these either although I read recently that if Pirate Cruise is docked picking up at CR it causes a back up.

 

[DISFAM4LIFE]

Is taking the boat for MK rope drop doable? I see it starts just 30 minutes before park opening.

We took the boat for rope drop only once. That was when the opening was outside the park. We did not make it and missed the beginning. I think your better off taking an early bus

 

[ArielSRL]

How often does the boat (realistically) come for pick to go over to MK? and same question for the boat to the Contemporary?

I've just recently read a few posts about how awful the transportation is at WL which has me panicking. We have a car for all other parks but I was definitely depending on using the boat to get to MK after a dinner for the HEA dessert party and to get to California Grill.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

We were there in June 2017 and thought both the AM bus transportation to MK and the (all of the other times of the day) boat transportation was great. We drove to all the other parks, but never to MK. We only had an issue for the bus on EMH morning. But that was partially our fault bc we should've gotten out sooner. But the bus took a good 20 minutes or more to show up.

 

[ArielSRL]

On the subject of opening transportation to MK...we have an 8am BOG ADR in June. Do we stick with the buses or try the boat to CR and walk to the MK? I only ask because we had awesome bus mojo to MK on our last trip, except on EMH day, where it seemed the buses ran less frequently. The bus, I feel, would be the easiest (less steps), however, what is more reliable in your opinions?

 

[Cloe Colton]

We were there in June 2017 and thought both the AM bus transportation to MK and the (all of the other times of the day) boat transportation was great. We drove to all the other parks, but never to MK. We only had an issue for the bus on EMH morning. But that was partially our fault bc we should've gotten out sooner. But the bus took a good 20 minutes or more to show up.

Does the bus go to Fort Wilderness before heading to MK?

 

[ArielSRL]

Does the bus go to Fort Wilderness before heading to MK?

In the morning, it did not.

 

[DisneyArkie]

Never missed rope drop one time when we took the boat last week in May, 2017, we stayed.

 

[KrazeeK120]

How often does the boat (realistically) come for pick to go over to MK? and same question for the boat to the Contemporary?

I've just recently read a few posts about how awful the transportation is at WL which has me panicking. We have a car for all other parks but I was definitely depending on using the boat to get to MK after a dinner for the HEA dessert party and to get to California Grill.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

We took the bus to MK for RD and the boat the rest of the day and had no issues. Like you, we had a car and drove to the other parks.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The MK boat is great. We have had good luck with it for most of our trips, including the most recent trip in March. The resort boat is a little trickier since it sometimes travels to FW before going to CR.

 

[pd1138]

We are officially headed to WL this August! Originally we had AOA booked, but have now decided to do two rooms at WL!! So incredibly excited since we haven’t stayed at WL since 2013 when we had two kids and one under three. The last four years we have stayed at EP resorts and Poly so I have not been there since renovations. When we were there in 2013 and prior years boats had started early and we always made rope drop on MK Days. Has this changed? Have the hours of operation for the boats changed? I remembered the boat to the contemporary started at 7 am. We are so excited to stay here again, our kids don’t even remember staying here since they were so little!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Have the hours of operation for the boats changed? I remembered the boat to the contemporary started at 7 am.

The MK boat starts running 30 minutes before the park opens and the resort boat starts at 6:45am. I think that is a change since you were last there.

 

[Deb & Bill]

The new cabins at the Wilderness lodge are very much like the Polynesian resort bungalows, a very premium priced offering at the waters edge or in the case of the bungalows, over the water of the Seven Seas lagoon.

After that possible sticker shock you might want to also consider a Deluxe room at the lodge or the Cabins at Fort Wilderness. They both sleep six (6) and are priced at around $800 for the deluxe room which includes Club level access to the Old Faithful Club and below $400 per night for the Fort Wilderness cabins which also have a full kitchen.

Wilderness Lodge Deluxe room: 2 Queen Beds and 1 Queen-Size Sleeper Sofa.
Fort Wilderness Cabins: 1 Queen Bed and 1 Bunk Bed and 1 Double-Size Sleeper Sofa.

Dave

The Wilderness Lodge Cabins are much nicer than the Bungalows. And there are more beds that real sized people can sleep in. Plus they have the real hot tub on the porch instead of just the cold plunge pool.

 

[danikoski]

Is taking the boat for MK rope drop doable? I see it starts just 30 minutes before park opening.

On the subject of opening transportation to MK...we have an 8am BOG ADR in June. Do we stick with the buses or try the boat to CR and walk to the MK? I only ask because we had awesome bus mojo to MK on our last trip, except on EMH day, where it seemed the buses ran less frequently. The bus, I feel, would be the easiest (less steps), however, what is more reliable in your opinions?

I'd stick to the bus to MK. One usually runs between 6:45-7:15.
You could take the boat to CR and walk to MK, however, if you miss that first one between 6:30-7:00, you will be waiting at least 20 minutes for the next one to CR, or, if they are running 2 on the resort loop, you will end up going to FW before MK.

 

[ArielSRL]

I'd stick to the bus to MK. One usually runs between 6:45-7:15.
You could take the boat to CR and walk to MK, however, if you miss that first one between 6:30-7:00, you will be waiting at least 20 minutes for the next one to CR, or, if they are running 2 on the resort loop, you will end up going to FW before MK.

Thanks!

 

[Roxyfire]

Does the bus go to Fort Wilderness before heading to MK?

Just as a heads up, sometimes the Epcot bus goes to FW first. I don't know if it's all day or just early morning/dinner time but the two times we went there and back, it did stop at FW before moving on to Epcot. I thought the transport at WL was great overall. But we don't drive and are fine with waiting some to get a bus. I didn't feel like we ever waited an unreasonable amount of time. Others, of course, will have different opinions.

 

[ArielSRL]

Just as a heads up, sometimes the Epcot bus goes to FW first. I don't know if it's all day or just early morning/dinner time but the two times we went there and back, it did stop at FW before moving on to Epcot. I thought the transport at WL was great overall. But we don't drive and are fine with waiting some to get a bus. I didn't feel like we ever waited an unreasonable amount of time. Others, of course, will have different opinions.

The one time we took the bus to Epcot in the AM, it did not stop at FW. But that was just one time. We drove to all the other parks after that. Not bc of any morning issues but bc we do midday breaks and bc of the crowds leaving at night.

 

[Roxyfire]

The one time we took the bus to Epcot in the AM, it did not stop at FW. But that was just one time. We drove to all the other parks after that. Not bc of any morning issues but bc we do midday breaks and bc of the crowds leaving at night.

Yeah that's good info! The bus we were on was for PPO Breakfast so I'm wondering if that was the reason. The second time was around dinner time so I think it was to help drop off people for Hoop De Doo but who knows!

 

[Sue M]

The MK boat sets running 30 minutes before the park opens and the resort boat starts at 6:45am. I think that is a change since you were last there.

My last WL stay was 2011 so this is a change! I could be wrong but I remember the boats starting earlier than 30 min before park opening, it was never a problem getting to MK and I much prefer the boats to the busses.

 

[pd1138]

My last WL stay was 2011 so this is a change! I could be wrong but I remember the boats starting earlier than 30 min before park opening, it was never a problem getting to MK and I much prefer the boats to the busses.

I agree! We stayed at WL 2008,2010, and 2013 and we always used the boat for MK rope drop without any problem. It started earlier then 30minutes prior back then I think. We prefer the boat too, guess I’ll just have to adapt if we need to take the bus!! We also have a chef Mickey breakfast one morning at 7:30 am so we should be good for the boat to contemp that morning!

 

[no one]

We just stayed 4/11 to 4/16, we loved the boats. So nice and relaxing, honestly seemed like the longest wait was ten minutes. We did not do rope drop, just could not get our act together in the morning, so always seemed around 9 to 9:30. It was nice the bag check was at the end of the dock at MK, so no long lines. At night it was heaven, you pull away from the dock and see the mass of humanity trying to cram on the monorail or going to the big ferry, and you have a nice quiet lake breeze

We did go to Epcot with the bus it was on Saturday and a late morning, as PP mentioned the bus stopped at FW, for some reason it sat there for several minutes. Then there was construction traffic so it ended up being a half hour to get to the park, but I dont think that is the norm so dont let that scare you. We had no problem taking the bus to AK.