Just back from 10 nights at WL...my thoughts (with Photos)

[sjs314]

Candice so happy to hear you had such a great time ! I think maybe we will stay there in 2013, if I can tear DH away from the BWI.

WL use to be his favorite we stayed there 2x back after it first opened in the 90's

Have to watch now and see how many RCers switch to WL after reading your review. Thanks for posting it

 

[auprincess]

I'm so glad you enjoyed WL!! We absolutely loved our stay there and I'm sad that we won't be able to stay there again in a regular room due to being a family of 5.

 

[Kathymford]

I totally agree with you about the food reviews!! I would always book the places I want no matter what, but would still read the reviews. I just can't understand some of the bad reviews some of the places have! I guess for the prices maybe people expect more, but personally, I'm used to the Disney Tax!!

Great TR! I can't wait to go in 50 days!!

 

[gillenkl]

Loved your report. My family has only had the opportunity to stay at WL once and we loved it! WL CL is on my bucket list! Do you have any photos of the CL common areas or food options?

 

[amwildwood]

Thanks for the report and bus opinion. We're staying at VWL in sept and think we'll be spoiled. Maybe after a trip or two in the boats, we will take the bus.

So why do the tour groups all stay together? Wouldn't it be better for them to split up into smaller groups? Glad the CMs helped you.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Loved your report. My family has only had the opportunity to stay at WL once and we loved it! WL CL is on my bucket list! Do you have any photos of the CL common areas or food options?

I do...but they are on the camera I haven't uploaded yet....when I do, I'll post here.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Thanks for the report and bus opinion. We're staying at VWL in sept and think we'll be spoiled. Maybe after a trip or two in the boats, we will take the bus.

So why do the tour groups all stay together? Wouldn't it be better for them to split up into smaller groups? Glad the CMs helped you.

The boat was nice, don't get me wrong, I just felt that the bus was faster...we took the boats about 3-4 times to get to MK and CR.

As far as the tour groups, I just don't know...I knew they would be there during our trip and was just expecting to deal with it. It was difficult though when you would want to get a FP and 4 or 5 of their "representatives" would get in front of you at the machines and they would get STACKS of FP's for their whole group, causing the return time to sometimes be an hour later by the time we got up there....

And the chanting in line....oooooh, the chanting....I just don't understand why that is neccessary....

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

So glad that you had such an amazing time! Our family too was spoiled by a deluxe - and like you, I almost wish we'd never have done it because it'll be hard to go back and NOT stay deluxe! However, we spontaneously planned a quick trip (a week from Friday! ) to POFQ - we just booked it a few weeks ago. So, we ARE going back to a mod and I'm hoping we'll be just as happy!

We do have another trip booked for Aug. 2013 and we'll be going Deluxe once again.

Again, thanks for the great report - and welcome back!

 

[Mousemom]

Loved reading your post and seeing your pictures. I really want to stay at WL. Was hoping for AP discount so we could in September but they never came out. Inatead we are staying at AKL and know we will be really happy. Will continue to watch for a good rate so we can stay at WL someday.

 

[chimo2u]

SO happy your trip was everything you hoped for and more! I might just have to add WL CL to my must try resorts!

 

[mlittig]

Great, positive report

 

[WDWKOOK]

Ok, so alot of you have followed my "saga" over the last year regarding where to stay for our July 2012 trip. It has gone through many incarnations....we were booked at the Poly, the BC, the WL...contemplated a split stay....and bounced between our options several times before finally deciding (about 47 days before our trip) on WL CL for the whole 10 nights. I honestly could not be happier about our choice!!!! If there is one thing I regret, it is making the jump from values & mods to a deluxe for the first time...and the regret is for my wallet...my family agrees that they don't want to stay anywhere else but the WL...

A few general observations...

~ Weather ~We were worried about going in July, due to the heat (we usually travel in cooler months)...well, maybe it was a fluke, but for the 11 days we were there, the weather was AMAZING...and even cool at times...it only rained hard on one day (all day), but we had ponchos, went out and made the best of it!!!

~ Crowds ~ NOT BAD AT ALL...of course this is purely subjective because everyone has their tolerances...but we traveled with our 5 and 8 year old DD's, who are pretty patient (as kids go), and they often said..."oooh, that's not a bad wait!!!" I think the longest we waited was about 60 minutes for Splash Mountain and that was only because we were on our last day and the girls really wanted to ride again...
And yes...there were many Brzilian tour groups, but honestly, if you go in the other direction (or walk fast to get in front of them), it was not bad.
On two separate occasions, we were actually approaching the Fast Pass lines to utilize ours and a group of 70-100 Brazilians would jump in front of us... Well, in both of those situations, a CM noticed and took us out from behind them and placed us in front of the group....at which time they started chanting...(I'm pretty sure something rude, but we couldn't understand...) But, it didn't matter, we were in front of them and didn't have to wait it out!

~ Pixie Dust ~ There was plenty of it!!! From the CM's who rescued us from the tour groups...to restaurant CM's letting us order stuff outside of the DDP and not charging us for it...Mousekeeping left awesome towel animals everyday....here's a sampling....


~ Food ~ There is alot of talk on the Disboards about the food at Disney being on the decline...again, this is all totally subjective, but we had some amazing meals at Ohana (dinner), Le Cellier (dinner) and Whispering Canyon Cafe (the skillet was awesome!!!). Artist Point was awesome too...here is the filet DH and I got...

Anyways....the WL was amazing...we had a refurbed room (#7042) on the club level (yes, we paid for it) and had this amazing view...


We had a great view of Wishes from our room (and you don't pay for a Theme Park View at WL)

Here's a few pics of our room


Overall, the WL was relaxing (we could barely hear the construction, and that was on only a few occassions), the CM's were wonderful...the CL was plentiful and delicious. It really ruined us I think, as I said before, my family doesn't want to stay anywhere else.

On another note, the boat option to MK was nice, but not our favorite, it really took much longer than just hopping on the bus. (We are a family that doesn't mind Disney busses)...transportation was great for our whole trip, and honestly...with the boat to CR, we had such easy access to the monorail, it was awesome!!!!

I know there are alot of WL lovers out there...but just as many WL detractors...again, this trip reminded me to trust my instincts and go with what we want to do (resort, food, etc...) instead of going on reviews because we had an amazing trip that another Dis'er might have experienced and thought it was awful...different strokes for different folks, I totally get it...but the WL is definitely "home" for our family now...it's that wonderful.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask away!!!! I've got lots more pics too.

I told you you'd love WL/CL. I hope you get to book a return trip soon. You've made me even more excited about our AP ADR

 

[iloveeeyore]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings on WL. I was following your whole indecisive saga pre-trip, so I'm so happy for your family that your ultimate decision was the right one.

We really love the WL, too. I agree about the boat service to MK. Meh. We learned to use the bus after our first day and it was soooo much faster! I also agree about Disney food. Every trip I read about how service and quality have declined, but each trip seems to get better and better dining-wise, in our opinion. We'll see how this trip goes...Isn't Artist Point AMAZING!? Will you be writing a dining review? I love those!

Our favorite resort is the Poly, and while we LOVE it there and often say "we don't want to stay anywhere else" we have had wonderful trips at other resorts when finances didn't allow us to stay there. Staying at other resorts gives us a whlole new kind of trip with different things to experience and more perspective to gain. I'm sure your family will adore POR as well, if you stay there! It's Disney, which is ALL good!

 

[pas130]

Have to watch now and see how many RCers switch to WL after reading your review. Thanks for posting it

 

[DisneyGal24]

Can you tell me more about club level? I am intrigued!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Can you tell me more about club level? I am intrigued!

What would you like to know?

This has been our only CL experience, but it was an experience that makes us want to do it again. Yes, it costs more, but from what we could tell, you get what you pay for. We really enjoyed the personal attention we received from the CL staff....we stayed for 11 days so by the end of the trip, we were all on a first name basis. They treated us (especially our girls) like royalty. I liked that CL is all on one floor with only key access to it..not something I ever thought about before, but I did feel more secure and we started to just see the same people on the floor over and over again....more of like a "neighborhood" feel I guess...

The food was delicious, and I'm sure my daughters ate enough cookies and DH had enough beers to come close to making the extra cost worth it.

We did use the IPO to make some of our reservations, and that was nice, though I do tend to like doing that stuff myself.

I am now of the opinion that if you can afford it, you should try it...and I was very skeptical before. It just took our vacation to a whole new level.

 

[cmdg]

What would you like to know?

DH had enough beers to come close to making the extra cost worth it.

This is something we joke about too! We stayed CL on our last trip and, unfortunately for our pocketbooks, we're hooked.

 

[we3travellers]

Thank you so much for the report! WL CL is our dream stay. That's right, not the Poly! This year we are going mod at CSR (in 11 days!) as the budget dictated this one. I am hoping for a bounceback offer of a room discount for next year. If that happens, then I am booking WL CL! It sounded as though you were on DDP and I was wondering if that was too much food combined with the CL? I like the thought of CL without DDP as I think we would spend much less OOP. Also, I was wondering if you had a picture of the CL and it's offerings and a picture of the pool. DH loves the theme of WL, but was a little concerned about the size of the pool. DS loves his pool time and we are really resort people who like to spend a lot of time lounging.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Thank you so much for the report! WL CL is our dream stay. That's right, not the Poly! This year we are going mod at CSR (in 11 days!) as the budget dictated this one. I am hoping for a bounceback offer of a room discount for next year. If that happens, then I am booking WL CL! It sounded as though you were on DDP and I was wondering if that was too much food combined with the CL? I like the thought of CL without DDP as I think we would spend much less OOP. Also, I was wondering if you had a picture of the CL and it's offerings and a picture of the pool. DH loves the theme of WL, but was a little concerned about the size of the pool. DS loves his pool time and we are really resort people who like to spend a lot of time lounging.

My pictures of the club level food are on another camera and my DH needs to upload those pics....but here is a picture from our favorite seating area in the lounge...as you can see, you have a great view of the EWP.

Here is the pic I have available right now in the pool area. Not a great representation, sorry. It's only half of one side of the pool.

I found the pool to be of adequate size...it never felt crowded at all. I see your child is 5...not sure of his swimming abilities, but my girls (5 and 8) are just coming into their "swimming-hood", and we really found that this pool was perfect for being able to keep an eye on both of them, especially after DD8 discovered that she LOVED the pool slide and went on it over and over again.

 

[we3travellers]

Thanks for the pics! EWP from the lounge and the castle from your room...can't beat that. DS is only 5, but a very good swimmer and very adventurous. He was obsessed with the slide at AKL when he was 3. so I hope this will be enough "action" for him. May I ask again about the amount of food? Too much with DDP and CL?