How remote is WL from Magic Kingdom?

[MarkLem]

Is Wilderness Lodge a ways out from the parks? I've stayed at the contemporary and it was great having monorail transportation to the Parks. How do you get there from WL?

Would it be tough to get back to WL on New Year's Eve?

 

[FloridaCat]

WL has a boat that goes to MK, about a 5 minuet ride. At MK closing it can be a long wait. You can take the monorail to CR and take a small boat to WL. Since you are talking NYE, you may want to post this on the Transportation Board. They may have a special schedule that I am not aware of.

All other parks are by bus and WL has a very nice bus station with signs to guide you.

If this is your first stay at WL, take a deep breath before you go through those massive front doors. You will be very happy there.

 

[Gary M]

Besides what FloridaCat said, you can also take a monorail or ferry from MK to TTC and then take a bus from TTC to WL.

 

[Kimberle]

It is so close to CR, if they'd build a bridge over the water channel, you'd be able to walk it in about 3 minutes.

 

[swatts1]

I stayed at WL last week for the first time. I've been the WDW more than 15 times and have always stayed on property, usually at the Shades of Green or Contemporary. Shades is also somewhat remote, but you can easily hoof it to the Poly. WL was just beautiful and we enjoyed it very much. I doubt that I'd stay there again because I found it too remote. Thankfully we had a rental car and used it to get to all parks except MK. While it is true that the boat ride is only 5 minutes, you still have to factor in the time spent waiting for the boats. We left MK an hour before closing on a Saturday night and had no hope of getting on a boat very quickly so we walked to the Contemporary, but then spent 30 minutes waiting for one of the little boats to get us back to WL. While waiting there we heard much complaining about the transportation issues. One lady told me that they did not have a rental car and every time they went anywhere it took them an hour. I don't know about this, but I find other resorts to be more convenient. On the other hand the resort is beautifully decorated during the Christmas season and I guess it depends on what you're looking for. If transportation is your main concern then this might not be the right place.

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

I have never had a problem with buses or boats at WL...
I did one time have a problem with the bus to Epcot at the Poly, but one of the bus drivers called the dispatch and was approved to take me to Epcot.
They really seem to go out of their way to either call and get a bus to the resprt or make a special trip.

 

[Kimberle]

We had no problems w/ transportation, either during our stay last month. Many times we'd just walk right on to the boat or bus. Our longest wait was no more than 10 minutes.

WL really is not remote, it's directly accross from CR with just the narrow water bridge seperating them. If it were land instead of water, you'd be able to walk it so quickly.

We went to Spectro & the fireworks last month. It was extremely crowded because it was the only night shown that week. Leaving the park, it took us 30 minutes door to door, I timed it. EVERYTHING transportation wise was very crowded. I don't think we could have gotten to any other hotel or the TTC any faster. The lines for the monorail were down to the bottom of the ramp.

 

[Vlahakis2001]

Wilderness Lodge is not that close to the CR. Sure if they connected the land you could walk, but that is the bottom part of the land, the WL is located at the top. It is not a quick stroll I don't think. I have done the boat ride in the day and I thought it was a decent way away. Not overly far though.

 

[FloridaCat]

Kimberle is right as it is less then a mile and the boat ride is 5 minutes or less. From the upper floors of WL on the North side you can clearly see CR and GF. Also some rooms allow you to watch the FW from MK.
The reason most like WL being "Isolated" is after a long day at the parks the Atmosphere is one of laid back and relaxing. The lay out of the Lodge means everything is located within a very short walk, pools, food court, spas and lobby. We always plan at least one day of no parks so we can enjoy this Magnificent structure.