First Time At WL - What Type of Room To Choose?

[jhaig]

We have stayed at WL before, but in a 2BR villa. For our next trip, we plan on staying in the main lodge and was wondering about what type of room to choose.

I hear you don't want a room overlooking the lobby because of the noise, but does that noise come from Whispering Canyon or is it just noisy in general? We are usually up early and get to the parks before rope drop. We also sleep with a white noise maker which drowns out most ambient noise anyway.

I don't care too much about the view, but would not like to see dumpsters or parking lots outside my window. Would a woods view room be a good choice?

 

[Havana]

I adored the courtyard view during our last stay at WL. It did open up to the lobby and I could hear some noise from Whispering Canyon when I stood by the door.

 

[TeresaMc]

Woods view is my favorite. We like the rooms that overlook the otter pond. Peaceful and quiet.....very relaxing.

We did get a courtyard view once and while the view is very pretty, you see and hear the hustle and bustle of people coming and going along with swimming.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We had a woods view room and could see the castle and fireworks. For the small amount of the cost to upgrade to Woods view, I would do that to avoid the dumpster view.

You can find lots of room view pictures on the WL thread:

Disney's WILDERNESS LODGE and VILLAS Information Thread ~2012~

 

[jhaig]

Woods view is my favorite. We like the rooms that overlook the otter pond. Peaceful and quiet.....very relaxing.

We did get a courtyard view once and while the view is very pretty, you see and hear the hustle and bustle of people coming and going along with swimming.

I wondered about that. It was the same last year when we were at the Contemporary. You could hear hustle and bustle below, but really the CR is just a big echo chamber anyway. A very nice echo chamber though.

 

[Karabee]

If I stay there again I would not have a courtyard view. It was lovely at times but it also was noisy. The one thing that really bothered me at WL were the pool games all day long - so loud! Even with the door shut we could hear them. I would pick a woods view room next time for sure.

 

[jhaig]

If I stay there again I would not have a courtyard view. It was lovely at times but it also was noisy. The one thing that really bothered me at WL were the pool games all day long - so loud! Even with the door shut we could hear them. I would pick a woods view room next time for sure.

That wouldn't bother us too much since we'd be at the parks all day long. That would really be annoying though if you're trying to catch a nap in the afternoon. I actually caught a nap in the VWL lobby once for about a half hour. It was so quiet. I sat in a rocking chair by a checkerboard and said nighty-night.

Sounds like a woods view might be my best option.

 

[macnodos]

Inner Courtyard view.

 

[jpdeg99]

We stayed in a standard view on the lobby. Noise was not an issue. We were opposite Whispering Canyon. View was of roof tops. It was a great room and we really enjoyed walking out and looking over the lobby.

 

[jhaig]

We stayed in a standard view on the lobby. Noise was not an issue. We were opposite Whispering Canyon. View was of roof tops. It was a great room and we really enjoyed walking out and looking over the lobby.

So the so-called "noise" from WCC isn't all that bad?

 

[JulieODC]

Our favorite is woods view - very peaceful! We also stayed in a room that opened into the lobby and had no problems at all with noise (in fact, I'd be more worried about noise in a courtyard room).

 

[Lolsmum]

I cannot for the life of me remember our room number, but we had a woods view and discovered our first night there that we could see the fireworks. As we had pretty much just arrived and settled in it was a perfect welcome to WDW.

 

[jpdeg99]

So the so-called "noise" from WCC isn't all that bad?

I honestly do not recall any noise in our room. And I notice stuff like that. (Like at POR when I wake every morning to the people above peeing and flushing the toilet). We were above and across from it, so maybe that's the difference. The ambiance of being over the lobby made it great and if we go back, we'll probably do the standard again. Or, a courtyard view and request one of the lobby rooms. I think there are 2 or 3 on each floor. The lobby is loud and we definitely hear it when we open the door, but when closed, no problem.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I have stayed in the "bear face" rooms (located to the left in the picture below) opens to lobby and view of main courtyard) and loved it..never heard noise.

But, my veryy favorite room is 2113. We have stayed in this room twice. It is just behind the creek and on the lobby level. There is a hall entrance just across from the Mercantile. The patio opens to the grassy area behind the creek. It is close to the bus area and if you use the hall door, you cross the bridge to Roaring Forks. SOOOOO nice!

 

[johnsonet]

What a great photo, DisneyDmbNut

To the OP- go with Courtyard View if you can! It's so dramatic.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Room location is a personal preference, as one family's ideal room might be too loud or too expensive for another family.

Some other things to consider are "Courtyard View" can be the "Inner Courtyard" where the main pool is, or overlooking the villas pool on the South side of the South wing. This is a much quiter location, but in my opinion the view isn't as spectacular.

We only choose to book Standard View, because even most of the Standard View room views aren't that bad (in our opinion) and it is often likely that you will end up with a better view because there are relatively few standard view rooms. If view out the balcony is very important to you, you can choose to pay the extra and guarantee a specific view. Inside the room is the same no matter which view you have.

Finally, one more preference is whether the room opens to the lobby or is in one of the wings of the hotel. While some complain about noise in the lobby rooms, we had one last trip and absolutely loved it. The view out the front door of the room down into the lobby was amazing, and it was such a pretty walk to the room each time. We could sometimes hear WCC, but it wasn't an issue for us.

Overall, my advice is to look at the room location map on the WL FAQ thread here and check out your options. While there is a lot of debate about room location, overall the resort is relatively compact and there isn't a "bad" location in the resort, just slight preferences. Enjoy your trip.