Resort Thread Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE

[ClaraOswald]

So the Fort Wilderness activities aren't just for people staying there??

 

[MissDisney21]

Disney resort activities are open to outside guests as long as they aren’t in the separated pool areas that require room key / magic band access.

 

[CarolynFH]

So the Fort Wilderness activities aren't just for people staying there??

Nope, as above all resort activities are open to anyone unless behind a locked gate. Check out the last page or two of this thread for current options next time you visit WDW https://www.disboards.com/threads/monthly-resort-recreation-calendars.3871996/

 

[ClaraOswald]

Wow! I had no idea! Thanks.

 

[Aurora79]

Just booked our first WL stay for May (and haven’t been on a vacation longer than short local weekend stays since our last Disney trip in March 2022). I’m so excited!!! I can almost smell the Disney water already.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are checking out of our WL room this morning. There are a few new things this trip. We had a courtyard view room, and they play the Happily Ever After music in the courtyard, loud enough for us to hear it with our balcony door closed. It was great!

The resort launch is running again and we took the boat to Fort Wilderness for Hoop Dee Doo. The show was great and when it was over, two of our party to the boat back to WL and two of us took the resort bus. The boat got there first but only because the WL bus was in line behind two internal FW buses and we had to wait for those to load. But once on board the WL bus we were back at the lodge in a couple of minutes.

The bus depot at Epcot has changed. It used to be far away but now the WL/FW bus sits at deport 7 at Epcot, the first depot on the left. The Epcot bus dropped off at FW then went to WL for the return from the park to the resort.

 

[cristen72]

We will be at the Lodge for the very first time over Easter weekend. We have never been to Disney on Easter. Does the resort ever do anything special for Easter?

 

[JPKanks]

Just dropping in to comment how much I miss WL. Hoping to get back there with my kids soon.

 

[MaxDrake79]

Guys tell me a little more about the hoop dee doo show. I will be staying in July at WL, can I go boating from there? Should I go to Fort Wildermess? How many shows are there? I am interested in the dinner show and especially after the dinner show can you return by boat to the WL as a time? By boat or is there a bus? Until what time?

 

[Wood Nymph]

Guys tell me a little more about the hoop dee doo show. I will be staying in July at WL, can I go boating from there? Should I go to Fort Wildermess? How many shows are there? I am interested in the dinner show and especially after the dinner show can you return by boat to the WL as a time? By boat or is there a bus? Until what time?

We went to Hoop Dee Doo from Wilderness Lodge just last Wednesday. There are three shows a day, one around 4pm, one at 6:15 and one around 8pm. We went to the 6:15 show.

You can go to Fort Wilderness from WL by either the boat or the bus. The bus will drop you at the Settlement depot, which is the closest one to Pioneer Hall, where the show is held. You can also take the boat to FW. We got lucky and caught the boat just as it was getting ready to leave the WL dock. There are two boats that travel between WL, Contemporary and Fort Wilderness. One boat travels clockwise around the lake and the other boat goes counterclockwise. We happened to catch the boat that went to the Contemporary first before heading to FW. We had plenty of time, so it worked for us.

They are two ways to return to the Wilderness Lodge from FW using Disney transportation. There is the boat and the bus. The bus from FW to WL was direct and only took a few minutes, but we had to wait a few minutes for the buses ahead of our bus to load. Two of our party took the boat back to WL and they got to the resort faster than we did. They also had a great view of the MK fireworks during the boat ride.

 

[Mle8308]

Guys tell me a little more about the hoop dee doo show. I will be staying in July at WL, can I go boating from there? Should I go to Fort Wildermess? How many shows are there? I am interested in the dinner show and especially after the dinner show can you return by boat to the WL as a time? By boat or is there a bus? Until what time?

The boats will start at 3pm, busses run throughout the day.

 

[MissDisney21]

Do they still have Mickeys Backyard BBQ?

 

[ClaraOswald]

Do they still have Mickeys Backyard BBQ?

When I Googled it said "permanently closed." I think it was closed to make way for the DVC resort that never ended up happening. But then in never reopened.

 

[MissDisney21]

When I Googled it said "permanently closed." I think it was closed to make way for the DVC resort that never ended up happening. But then in never reopened.

Sad, my family loved it! Some of our best memories at Disney are from the barbecue.

 

[Love Ft Wilderness]

Do they still have Mickeys Backyard BBQ?

That's long gone, bull dozed.

 

[Christine514]

Unpopular opinion but I did not enjoy the WL as much as I thought I would. The room was very noisy. Our water view room was overlooking other balconies and rooms, no water in sights, we had to keep the curtains closed most of the time. The room felt smaller than any moderate rooms I stayed at. The food court is way too small and the food was just okay. Nothing was really appealing to us on the menus at geyser point or artist point. The arcade is really small. My biggest complaint is the transportation. We shared busses with the Contemporary or Fort wilderness, it really adds time. The one time we took the boat from mk, we waited over half an hour.
It is a beautiful resort and we liked the quiet pool but I don’t think we will go back. So far I tried 8 disney hotel, and it was my least favorite.

Oh and around 3-4pm, every day of the week, when we were showering and getting ready for the evening, a man would knock to take a pictures of the balcony and said he would come back some other time! Our balcony is not that great dude!

 

[Bird003]

Unpopular opinion but I did not enjoy the WL as much as I thought I would. The room was very noisy. Our water view room was overlooking other balconies and rooms, no water in sights, we had to keep the curtains closed most of the time. The room felt smaller than any moderate rooms I stayed at. The food court is way too small and the food was just okay. Nothing was really appealing to us on the menus at geyser point or artist point. The arcade is really small. My biggest complaint is the transportation. We shared busses with the Contemporary or Fort wilderness, it really adds time. The one time we took the boat from mk, we waited over half an hour.
It is a beautiful resort and we liked the quiet pool but I don’t think we will go back. So far I tried 8 disney hotel, and it was my least favorite.

Oh and around 3-4pm, every day of the week, when we were showering and getting ready for the evening, a man would knock to take a pictures of the balcony and said he would come back some other time! Our balcony is not that great dude!

We have avoided WL for transportation honestly. We go to dinner there sometimes and always wait a long time for the boat

 

[ClaraOswald]

Wait....some guy came in to look at your balcony?? Can you expand on that??

 

[Christine514]

to take pictures of/ from the balcony.

 

[Crescent_Lake]

to take pictures of/ from the balcony.

An employee of the lodge or some random guest? This is very weird!