Is WL worth it?

[PortieOwner]

It has been a long time since I stayed there but I am not a WL fan. Sure the lobby looks great and the pool should be great but here are the problems we had:

1. Room was noisy, both hallway noise and pool noise until late at night. We also hope to have mid-day breaks with a nap so pool noise was a factor preventing that. It was my least restful WDW stay ever.

2. Pool was too crowded and way too many trashy people there (they may have been illegal pool hoppers or even non-resort crashers). The pool looked great but was too crowded to enjoy it.

3. The counter service snack bar was at the time inadequate.

4. Parking lot is far, far away. We drive to most parks/waterparks/dinners and used to go off-site once in a while for food so that was inconvenient.

5. Money. It costs a lot to stay there--my strategy would be to either spend more and stay at Beach/Y-Club or spend less and stay at a moderate resort (I love the moderate resorts).

All in all that visit in 1996 put me (and especially my wife) off visiting WDW for 9 years.

Good things about the place: pretty lobby, and nice boat ride to MK. Glad I stayed there once but once was enough unless the price is a lot lower in the future.

 

[Tracy Savage]

Well thanks for your input. I hope I don't regret it. But then again if I don't like it, we will know for next time and have no doubts about saving some cash and staying at a mod. We stayed at CB last time and it was VERY quiet. It was such a large spread out place though. I'm thinking POFQ next time. I want beignets every day for breakfast!!!

 

[Angela Kay]

Well thanks for your input. I hope I don't regret it. But then again if I don't like it, we will know for next time and have no doubts about saving some cash and staying at a mod. We stayed at CB last time and it was VERY quiet. It was such a large spread out place though. I'm thinking POFQ next time. I want beignets every day for breakfast!!!

The problem with staying at the WL is, once you stay there, you want to keep staying there. We're having to stay at the Poly this year and I am bummed!

 

[Tracy Savage]

The problem with staying at the WL is, once you stay there, you want to keep staying there. We're having to stay at the Poly this year and I am bummed!

Thats what my DH is afraid of!!

 

[Anc96]

We stayed at WL for 10 days in 2006.

The lobby and grounds outside are fairly impressive, very beautiful.. no doubt there. But I honestly thought the rest of the resort was very hotel-like.

The hallways were very narrow, claustrophobic at some corners (I actually thought we'd reached a dead end, you had get much closer to see that the hallway turned). The rooms seemed very small (though I know they're supposed to be as big as AKL? It didn't feel that way). I did have a newly renovated room too. And, as another poster said, the noise level was much too high for a deluxe (albeit, value deluxe) resort. We had a standard veiw. We overlooked a loading dock and couldn't use the balcony because of the strong deisel fumes. But since we didn't pay for a view, I had no complaints about that. But the noise was very bad outside after about 8:00am. If I was sleeping that late, it would wake me. It wasn't bad during the night, but with their lack of soundproofing, I can only imagine what a pool view room would sound like. I kept the curtains drawn trying to block out the sounds which made the room very dark. NO afternoon naps there!

Housekeeping was terrible. I wouldn't use the coffee maker because it was so dusty! I wrote the words "dust me" in the dust.. which remained there throughout our whole stay. This was our visit, our housekeeping. I'm sure there are very competant housekeepers there, we just didn't have one.

The pool was crowded! But, we were there in July.. very busy. I just wish the pool and area around it was bigger though. It was small, but pretty, and comfortably warm.

We enjoyed Whispering Canyon and had lunch and dinner there a few times during our stay. Of course it's noisy here.. that's the idea of the place so be prepared. But it's fun.
Roaring Forks was a disaster! The CMs there was so nice, especially since they had so many people pulling them so many ways! It was crowded every morning.. I mean standing in line 20 minutes crowded! The tables were quickly cleaned after people left, they had to be, there was usually people waiting for tables. None of their food is memorable at all... just normal cafeteria fare.

The arcade was a joke. Very small and most of the games didn't work.

We used valet every night (it was only $7 last year), so I don't know about parking. I honestly can't remember where the parking lot was in relation to the front entrance.

We did use the boat ride to MK.. dd loved that. And, to FW when we did the hoopydeedoo review. The boats came often, and the rides were very pleasant.

We visited here last Christmas when we were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge. We resort hopped for the decorations It was very beautiful, as are most of the Deluxe resorts at Christmas time. Except for the Christmas tree and decorations, I didn't see that they had a "special" decoration at WL. I love AKL at Christmas time!! But, I have to admit, with their life-sized gingerbread house, the bell choir.. the incredibly beautiful flower arrangements etc.... The GF is hands down the most impressive and beautiful of all the resorts at Christmas time.

I would not stay at WL again. If I was staying at that price level, I would choose AKL over WL easily.. no second thoughts. I've stayed at Coronado Springs before, and like there MUCH better than WL. And CSR had a huge, beautiful pool aread!! And several quiet pools. It also had beautiful grounds to walk.

If I could save $1,000.. I would definately choose a Port Orleans resort. I haven't stayed in one yet (Oct will be our first time), but from what I've read they're really nice. And with discounted prices making them a pretty good deal too.

Everyone is different. These are just my experiences and views. I mean, some people don't like AKL We love it there.

Enjoy your stay!
(And do remember to ask for Ketchup at WC)

 

[Anc96]

Posting to get rid of my last post count