Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE Information & Questions

[roydavid7771]

I'm excited to be staying here again this coming July! I'm hoping things are a bit more normal by then. It's been a few years since we stayed here last, I'm excited to try out Geyser Point!

 

[glocon]

I'm tentatively planning a split WL/Swandolphin trip for early November. 4 nights at each resort. The plan would be to go to MK and AK mostly during the WL portion and go to EP and HS mostly during the S/D. We do plan to get hoppers. But all of this depends on what is going on with C19 and if my DH is able to get the vaccination by then. We have never stayed at either resort before. Our start day is flexible, so what do you Dis'ers that have stayed at WL suggest at a good start day for the stay? Originally i was thinking tues-fri at S/D and sat-tues at WL (only because i know that EP is extra busy on weekends). I'd love some input from people with experience at WL. TIA!

 

[Avery&Todd]

I'll be waking up there on our first morning 2 weeks from today!! Love this resort!!

 

[JFDIS]

I'm tentatively planning a split WL/Swandolphin trip for early November. 4 nights at each resort. The plan would be to go to MK and AK mostly during the WL portion and go to EP and HS mostly during the S/D. We do plan to get hoppers. But all of this depends on what is going on with C19 and if my DH is able to get the vaccination by then. We have never stayed at either resort before. Our start day is flexible, so what do you Dis'ers that have stayed at WL suggest at a good start day for the stay? Originally i was thinking tues-fri at S/D and sat-tues at WL (only because i know that EP is extra busy on weekends). I'd love some input from people with experience at WL. TIA!

Sounds like a fun trip! I’d rope drop MK in the am and take the boat back over late morning. Then relax by the pool and eat lunch at Geyser point. Check into my room and take a nap. Dinner at the Wave. Then go MK for dessert and ride anything that was a walk on.

 

[maryj11]

I'm tentatively planning a split WL/Swandolphin trip for early November. 4 nights at each resort. The plan would be to go to MK and AK mostly during the WL portion and go to EP and HS mostly during the S/D. We do plan to get hoppers. But all of this depends on what is going on with C19 and if my DH is able to get the vaccination by then. We have never stayed at either resort before. Our start day is flexible, so what do you Dis'ers that have stayed at WL suggest at a good start day for the stay? Originally i was thinking tues-fri at S/D and sat-tues at WL (only because i know that EP is extra busy on weekends). I'd love some input from people with experience at WL. TIA!

We are also planning a split stay. CBR and WL. Planning the same thing, Epcot and HS while at CBR and MK and AK while at WL.
On our day we switch resorts we are planning a breakfast at Whispering Canyon. Then stay at the resort all day and out for a dinner somewhere. Not sure about dinner yet. Maybe the Wave or Ohana if it is open.

 

[glocon]

Sounds like a fun trip! I’d rope drop MK in the am and take the boat back over late morning. Then relax by the pool and eat lunch at Geyser point. Check into my room and take a nap. Dinner at the Wave. Then go MK for dessert and ride anything that was a walk on.

Thanks!
Do you think it's a good idea to do the S/D or the WL portion of the trip first?

 

[shairpdrh]

Thanks!
Do you think it's a good idea to do the S/D or the WL portion of the trip first?

I would say WL last but I think either way would be great. The main reason for my preference for WL last is that is so relaxing I think it works well for the second part of a trip where you might feel like lounging, taking in the calm atmosphere, and grabbing a meal at Geyser Point.

 

[Jhondy]

I’m so excited to stay at wilderness on my first mother/daughter trip. My daughter will be 20 months and I can’t wait to explore the resort with her. We booked a studio at BR cause I’m hoping not to get a first floor room and CC studio with bathtub said majority of rooms are first floor. I’m hoping I didn’t make a mistake booking BR instead of CC

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Good Morning From Wilderness Lodge:


Sadly, we are headed home today. We had a wonderful trip and will share lots more pictures from home.

 

[MomOTwins]

Good Morning From Wilderness Lodge:
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Sadly, we are headed home today. We had a wonderful trip and will share lots more pictures from home.

Have a great last day—truly enjoyed your photos. Thank you for sharing them!

 

[jani3]

Good Morning From Wilderness Lodge:....
Sadly, we are headed home today. We had a wonderful trip and will share lots more pictures from home.

Beautiful photos and it looks like a ghost town. What time are you taking these pics? Is it just too early for anything to be open or too early for people to be up and about?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Have a great last day—truly enjoyed your photos. Thank you for sharing them!

Thanks, going home is never fun, but we had a great time and will be back next year.

Beautiful photos and it looks like a ghost town. What time are you taking these pics? Is it just too early for anything to be open or too early for people to be up and about?

Thanks! I tend to get up early to get pictures around 7am when there isn’t anyone around. The resort is generally quiet, but not empty like in the pics. By the time I get back to the room and have breakfast, there are more people out and about.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

The worst WL picture:

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I’m so excited to stay at wilderness on my first mother/daughter trip. My daughter will be 20 months and I can’t wait to explore the resort with her. We booked a studio at BR cause I’m hoping not to get a first floor room and CC studio with bathtub said majority of rooms are first floor. I’m hoping I didn’t make a mistake booking BR instead of CC

In my opinion you can’t go wrong staying anywhere at Wilderness Lodge. BR is right next door to the main building and all under one roof, and this trip we particularly enjoyed mornings in the cozy Carolwood Pacific room in the BRV lobby.
Last year we had a first floor CC room and most of our party would have preferred a higher floor. It is super easy for transportation not having to take an elevator, but we missed having a nice view and walking through the beautiful lobby.
Whichever side you stay in be sure to take some time and explore it all. It is such a beautiful place.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I wanted to write a post about some of the COVID related changes and procedures at Wilderness Lodge, and since I have some time on the plane I decided to put something together. I may add to it as I download more pictures and think of more things.

We were naturally concerned about how COVID related changes would negatively affect our trip to WL. Fortunately, we had nothing to worry about and for us the changes are a net positive. Here are a few things that are different than a year ago:

• Roaring Fork is primarily mobile order, and you pick up in the old dining room. There are still a few tables in there to eat at, and sometimes they will open up the cash register in the original location, but in general you order through the app and pick up your stuff when it is ready.
• Mug “refills” are new paper cups (and plastic lids) each time. They have set up a “counter” with tables in the dining room, and CMs are behind the tables to get you the drinks from the machines. The CMs have a system where you can take a picture of you with your mug and use it to get a refill, which avoids having to carry a mug around. This worked for us consistently at RF, and we also did it at Beach Club. There is no official Disney policy on the refills with a photo, but it is working well in our experience. I also was able to get two cups since I had a picture with my wife’s mug. Also the cups are larger than the mugs are, but not the large size paper cups.
• Traffic flow: Roaring Fork, the Mercantile, and other locations have defined entrances and exits. This generally makes sense, but can take some getting used to at first
• Bus Transportation: For us we did very well. All buses only went to one resort, and we never had to wait too long. The situation at WL was far better than what we saw at other resorts, likely due to decreased crowds with the WL hotel side being still closed. The bus drivers do usually assign you to a section with your party, and larger parties may take up multiple sections. Sometimes you enter through the back door, but it varied quite a bit for us.
• Boat Transportation: Here is the first significant loss, since the Blue Flag boats are not running between WL, CR, and FW. Your only boat option is to MK where you can connect to a FW boat (without going through security). Getting to CR requires getting to MK and then walking or taking the monorail. We chatted with a CM, and found that they must rotate boats out of service for cleaning many times during the day, so the routes are limited. I hope the blue flag boats return soon, but I see why they are not there yet. The same smaller boats are in use for the MK trip, and usually were alternating with the bigger enclosed boats. The captains of the smaller boats assign your seats to maximize capacity and keep groups separated. This made their job way harder, and I feel sorry for them.
• Front Desk: Despite the messages from Disney that you might not need to go to the front desk, CMs are available at the desk to help you as always. There are plexiglass dividers and sanitized pens, but the same service is available.
• Room Service is not available. We aren’t sure if this is due to staffing or safety concerns, but you can’t order in room dining. Many people do bring QS up from Roaring Fork or getting Geyser Point to go. Watch the clock though, because there wasn’t any food available between 10pm and 7am.
• Mask use is mandatory. Like all of Disney, you must wear your mask properly or CMs will let you know. This is actually quite reassuring.
• Temp checks were happening for reservations at Whispering Canyon, but not anywhere else at WL. I believe all resort TS locations are doing temp checks, as are the parks and Disney Springs, so it became quite routine.
• The hotel side is a construction site and not accessible to guests. This has little effect on guests, but you can not access the elevators by Roaring Fork since there is a construction wall just past the restrooms. This is a significant inconvenience for anyone staying in the first 12 cabins, since they have to walk all the way around the wing by the boat dock. In the lobby the 4th, 5th, and 6th floors have doors closed preventing access to the North wing. On the bright side, the room renovations are almost done and look beautiful from the outside windows.
• Resort Airline Checkin and Magical Express Luggage Services are gone. The front of the lodge is cleaned up and there is no evidence of where these used to take place. It was really not a big deal to claim and check our own bags, and the Magical Express driver helped carry our bags from the lobby. Bell services would also have taken our stored bags directly to the bus, but we didn’t do that.
  

 

[Wood Nymph]

Room Service is not available. We aren’t sure if this is due to staffing or safety concerns, but you can’t order in room dining. Many people do bring QS up from Roaring Fork or getting Geyser Point to go. Watch the clock though, because there wasn’t any food available between 10pm and 7am.

I wonder if they don't have room service because the resort side is closed. Yacht Club and Grand Floridian had room service.

 

[Dave006]

YC and GF only got room service due to the NBA bubble at WDW.

That's what brought back the main kitchen staff. They stayed and so room service stayed for YC, BCV, and GF at this point.

Dave

 

[Dave006]

I wanted to write a post about some of the COVID related changes and procedures at Wilderness Lodge, and since I have some time on the plane I decided to put something together.

Great update of the current workings at the lodge. Safe travels home and we await you future pictures and musings.

Dave

 

[mrsap]

I wanted to write a post about some of the COVID related changes and procedures at Wilderness Lodge, and since I have some time on the plane I decided to put something together. I may add to it as I download more pictures and think of more things.

We were naturally concerned about how COVID related changes would negatively affect our trip to WL. Fortunately, we had nothing to worry about and for us the changes are a net positive. Here are a few things that are different than a year ago:

• Roaring Fork is primarily mobile order, and you pick up in the old dining room. There are still a few tables in there to eat at, and sometimes they will open up the cash register in the original location, but in general you order through the app and pick up your stuff when it is ready.
• Mug “refills” are new paper cups (and plastic lids) each time. They have set up a “counter” with tables in the dining room, and CMs are behind the tables to get you the drinks from the machines. The CMs have a system where you can take a picture of you with your mug and use it to get a refill, which avoids having to carry a mug around. This worked for us consistently at RF, and we also did it at Beach Club. There is no official Disney policy on the refills with a photo, but it is working well in our experience. I also was able to get two cups since I had a picture with my wife’s mug. Also the cups are larger than the mugs are, but not the large size paper cups.
• Traffic flow: Roaring Fork, the Mercantile, and other locations have defined entrances and exits. This generally makes sense, but can take some getting used to at first
• Bus Transportation: For us we did very well. All buses only went to one resort, and we never had to wait too long. The situation at WL was far better than what we saw at other resorts, likely due to decreased crowds with the WL hotel side being still closed. The bus drivers do usually assign you to a section with your party, and larger parties may take up multiple sections. Sometimes you enter through the back door, but it varied quite a bit for us.
• Boat Transportation: Here is the first significant loss, since the Blue Flag boats are not running between WL, CR, and FW. Your only boat option is to MK where you can connect to a FW boat (without going through security). Getting to CR requires getting to MK and then walking or taking the monorail. We chatted with a CM, and found that they must rotate boats out of service for cleaning many times during the day, so the routes are limited. I hope the blue flag boats return soon, but I see why they are not there yet. The same smaller boats are in use for the MK trip, and usually were alternating with the bigger enclosed boats. The captains of the smaller boats assign your seats to maximize capacity and keep groups separated. This made their job way harder, and I feel sorry for them.
• Front Desk: Despite the messages from Disney that you might not need to go to the front desk, CMs are available at the desk to help you as always. There are plexiglass dividers and sanitized pens, but the same service is available.
• Room Service is not available. We aren’t sure if this is due to staffing or safety concerns, but you can’t order in room dining. Many people do bring QS up from Roaring Fork or getting Geyser Point to go. Watch the clock though, because there wasn’t any food available between 10pm and 7am.
• Mask use is mandatory. Like all of Disney, you must wear your mask properly or CMs will let you know. This is actually quite reassuring.
• Temp checks were happening for reservations at Whispering Canyon, but not anywhere else at WL. I believe all resort TS locations are doing temp checks, as are the parks and Disney Springs, so it became quite routine.
• The hotel side is a construction site and not accessible to guests. This has little effect on guests, but you can not access the elevators by Roaring Fork since there is a construction wall just past the restrooms. This is a significant inconvenience for anyone staying in the first 12 cabins, since they have to walk all the way around the wing by the boat dock. In the lobby the 4th, 5th, and 6th floors have doors closed preventing access to the North wing. On the bright side, the room renovations are almost done and look beautiful from the outside windows.
• Resort Airline Checkin and Magical Express Luggage Services are gone. The front of the lodge is cleaned up and there is no evidence of where these used to take place. It was really not a big deal to claim and check our own bags, and the Magical Express driver helped carry our bags from the lobby. Bell services would also have taken our stored bags directly to the bus, but we didn’t do that.
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Thank you so much for sharing! I’m happy you had a great trip! Would you mind if I linked this to the CCV board? Thank you!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Thank you so much for sharing! I’m happy you had a great trip! Would you mind if I linked this to the CCV board? Thank you!

Please do! As always, feel free to share any of my stuff. This trip it was hard to separate the CC stuff from the general Lodge stuff, but feel free to link and share it. I also have some room view photos for you that I will post there.